Be my Raven, and I'll be your Scarlet
by xXRoxanneXx
Summary: Erza is living a normal life. However, she craves for more but...What? Gray is living the life of the most popular student in school while getting into trouble and dating nearly every single girl. Nightmares take him to his senses and he decides on giving one girl who's a nerd a beautiful dream. As these two people find each other online, what will begin?Grayza, Nalu, etc
1. What am I missing?

**_A/N: Heya guys!^^ Kinda nervous as this is just my second fanfic (after I deleted m fisrt one) and haven't uploaded for a while... and I'm also scared that my twin will find out about this story xD . Let me tell you before I continue my random intro that my sis who has had the same interests as me ALWAYS ,then started liking Jerza. Sure I don't mind the couple but I thought Grayza was much better - and that's when our sisterhood ended... Of course not! XD We barely fight :p So anywho I knew (sis instinct) that there was no point in changing her mind. Then I arrived on this epic website and read so many amazing works and was inspired to write Grayza :D Sorry for going so off topic x3 This idea came to me when I was daydreaming and I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if some hot guy wanted to make my ugly self learn how to live my teen years to the fullest?" And then it just sort of developed. Now, I would tell you more about my dream, but that would be telling the whole story xD. I think but I'm not 100% sure that I'll write in 3rd person. Soz if I can't really type well with my new tablet (technically my mum bought it for herself but I use it the most :p) Enjoy! And if you want to review I would be so happy to read them. Early apology if updates are REALLY slow :(. And there is some strong language._**

**_I own the story plot but I do not own Fairy Tail or the characters_**

**Chapter I: What am I missing?**

Erza Scarlet had always got what she wanted: A nice house, a perfect family (Mum; a model, singer and fashion designer, Dad; a business man and fencing champion), a White cat called Carla, position of student council president and perfect grades. However, the Scarlet haired girl still wanted something more, but she couldn't place her finger on it.

Erza woke up at 5 am, picking up her glasses from the drawer beside her bed. Her bedroom looked like the typical bedroom of a teenager: royal red walls, two wardrobes, posters of favourite bands and singers, a computer desk (with a scarlet laptop) and finally a bookshelf overflowing with all types of genre. Ok, maybe not the typical room of _every_ teen, but as close as you can get with a rich family. She went next door to have a short shower, followed by brushing and drying her wet hair and brushing her teeth. She wore her school uniform immaculately **(looks exactly like the one in the OVA) **and went down three flights of stairs before reaching the living room.

As always, her parents were busy with work, so she had the house to herself. Any normal teenager would invite their friends for a crazy party, but everyone knew that Erza was not someone to a) break the rules and b) be ever messed with, or they would suffer the consequences. Why did Erza always wear armour to shield her away from people? That's another story for another day. She ate her cereal in silence while contemplating on what she wanted.

_Do I need love? _She asked herself. _Of course not. Such a childish thing as love would soil my reputation. Maybe friends? _Erza felt a **pang **at her heart, knowing that was probably the answer. But no! She Erza Scarlet did not need friends, why would she want such a fickle relationship when she knew that there would only be betrayal. She suddenly lost her appetite and grimaced at her cereal before abandoning it and taking her school bag (**scarlet of course**).

Erza attended a private school called Fairy Tail in Magnolia. It was a very prestigious school and only the best at academics could enter. However, the downside was that the school was so humongous that they had to build it thousands of miles away from the city. Erza entered her Scarlet Ferrari** (you know those cars which don't have the top part of the car but when it rains they use a black material to cover the car's top so they don't get wet? Yeah it looks like that. Soz for my amateurish explanation x3)** before checking her wrist watch for the time,_5:20,_ and started the engine before stepping on the accelerator.

* * *

_Voices. Why are there so many voices? Screams of agony. Can't see. Throat burning, hate the fucking burning. Where the hell am I? "Gray," who's speaking? "Gray listen," why is Ul speaking? She was supposed to be in... Heaven thanks to me. Tears are threatening to escape but my will is too weak to hold them back. "Gray, promise me you will help one girl, any one girl that has lost hope in something and make her regain it back. Listen to me, do not choose someone you already know. She will have Scarlet hair and will save you from what you are becoming, before it's too late." No.. Ul don't go!"_

Gray woke up from his recurring nightmare. It had been freaking 5 days already! What did his adoptive mother want from him, and why did she sound so worried? He realized that he was panting heavily as if he had been running for many miles. Sweat covered his face and fit body as he tried to regain control of himself. Gray loosened his tight grip on his bed covers and looked around his room for anything unusual. His walls were still ice blue, and his dark blue guitar hung lazily on one of the door hangers. Still, the place was a massive pigsty full of paper and some other junk. Gray scratched his Raven hair as he realised he had gone to sleep naked...** again**. He put on some baggy black trousers with chains, his crumpled white school shirt and dark blue converse before going to his adoptive brother's room.

"Oi Lyon!" Silence... "Lyon get up sleepy head, it's time for school!" he said while smirking. Something was not right... why wasn't Lyon waking up? He was the responsible out of the two. He glared at the bed realising it was empty before looking at the clock. _Oh shit.._ he thought as he saw it was already 11:30 am! He was seriously in trouble now. Why hadn't Lyon woken him up? And then he remembered

_Flashback: It was Gray's turn to cook today, but he was totally not bothered and he had a date with some chick who he didn't even know. It was all his stupid bro's fault that he couldn't have fun. Then, he had a mischievous idea before leaving the house to go to his date at the club. "Hello? Is this Pizza hut? I would like to order an extra extra spicy pizza. Deliver it to 25 xxx street. Thanks." He grinned evilly. Lyon then entered the kitchen and asked, " What are we having for dinner today Gray?" Gray answered," Sorry Lyon I have a date, but I ordered a pizza for you. Got to go." Lyon sensed something was up but didn't ask. As Gray left the house, he chuckled to himself. Lyon and him had always despised hot food, so that would teach Lyon a lesson. He started whistling a happy tune._

_End of flashback_

Now Grey deeply regretted his little joke, but there was no time to be moping about it. He entered the white tiled kitchen and was grateful to Lyon for leaving him two slices of toast. He picked them up and raced to his school with toast hanging from his mouth. Why was Gray in such a hurry today? You might ask. Well, his best friend, Lucy Heartfilia, was having a massive party at school for her sweet 16. Since she was rich, she banned all lessons to host her party all day. It was going to be a party to remember. Gray however, had slept in on the day which he was supposed to be cheering for his good friend. He had even bothered to buy her the present she always wanted...sigh. He really had to hurry or she would throw a tantrum and end her party, and it would be all his fault.

Gray, the conceited playboy who didn't care about breaking hearts was trying to hurry up for his friend Lucy, but why? Well, this story starts when Gray was 8 and Ul was dead. He thought and rethought , _I killed Ul. It's all my fault._ Tormented by these thoughts, Gray lay alone in the cold, dark room, sobbing silently to himself. He felt useless. He was a murderer. No one would ever love and cherish him like Ul did. He didn't deserve pity. There were only two days until her funeral. He wouldn't go. He could NOT go. A knock came from the door. Another knock. He chose to ignore it and focus on the grief. The door opened but..how? He was certain he locked it. Gray looked at the girl with medium blonde hair and brown eyes full of concern and... mischief? "Gray?" he grunted at his name being said. "Gray, are you ok?" How could he be ok?!  
"What do you want Lucy? And how the hell did you get in my room!?" questioned the Raven haired boy. She smiled.  
"You know me so little Gray. Of course I used my 12 stellar keys **( get the reference? :D). **They unlock any door!" she gushed triumphantly."Gray stop whining and being sad, I have had enough of it! You at least had a loving and caring parent who stood by you at all times, instead I have a father who hates me and can't wait to disown me..." Lucy's voice had gone deathly quiet. The atmosphere became very tense. "I know! Let's go shopping! Hurry up Gray and get a bath and change, you smell," she twitched her nose in disgust. For some reason, Gray did do as she asked, and they both went in a black SUV to the mall. As they rode on, snow started falling like angels in the sky. Gray stood on his seat and reached his tongue out to try and catch a snowflake. "Gray! Your clothes!" screamed Lucy while covering her embarrassed face. Gray did not seem to hear her, spell bound by the snow. Then Lucy had a perfect idea. When the car stopped, she pulled Gray's hand inside. For some reason the blonde was going at the opposite direction of the clothes shop. Gray gasped and Lucy beamed when they saw the shopping mall's ice skating rink.

There, in the middle of the ice rink, was a statue of an angel which had short hair and a flowing dress. The statue was made of only ice. Gray was astounded by it and he saw that it looked just like Ul. "This beautiful statue is a memento of her life. This ice rink was part of her memory in her ice skating days, do you remember?" He realised that he actually did. She then pulled Gray again and ordered two skating shoes. Gray protested that he never skated before but she just giggled. As they glided on the ice, Gray found out he was actually a natural. The cold chill calmed him and he suddenly felt at peace.. at home. Tears sprang his red eyes for the fifth time that day. "What's wrong? It was a bad idea wasn't it? Oh I'm so stupid, it's not my fault I'm blonde though. Forgive me?" Her usual blabbing hadn't failed to impress him as he laughed hysterically for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, he regained control before saying, "Thanks Lucy." She smiled back in reply.

During the tough times she had always been there for him. He owed her so much.

* * *

**School 7:00**

Erza was late! Late! Late! There had been a car accident and that lead her to be late for the student council meeting** (which was not that big of a deal as she was only 2 minutes late and counting)**. How could such a thing have happened to her? This was the first time she had been late, and her thunderous temper was hardly being contained. The scarlet haired girl walked briskly through the corridors, not noticing the petrified glances she got. All laughter and chat ceased as they all moved to the side for Erza to pass. She was like Moses, parting the red sea **(ironic huh? As her hair is red and all xD)**. Everyone was afraid... of the Titania. How had Erza acquired that nickname? It had two meanings in Fairy Tail:

Number 1: Queen of fairies. Everyone who attended Fairy Tail had always been called 'fairies', so it just stuck. When Erza was in her first year of high school, she had been a fencing champion and defeated every single foe. She had protected many students and soon they all respected her as the queen. Erza was not high and mighty, just a little... bossy. So the name stuck.

Number 2: Land of goblin. This second meaning to her name had two different meanings too. The first meaning related to a bunch of 6 feet tall American football students at Fairy Tail bullying and disturbing others. Erza had not liked it one bit, so outside of school, she beat them all to a pulp. They were hospitalised for weeks. The second meaning was that Erza was actually really beautiful (got her model genes from her mum), so compared to her, girls looked like goblins. Well not all girls but that's how boys are.

Erza opened the large wooden doors and saw that no one was yet in the student council room. She felt pleased. Just as she was about to smile, she saw a Salmon haired boy crouched on the floor looking under HER desk. How dare he! He wasn't even in the student council! Erza composed herself before she coughed. The Salmon haired guy completely ignored her. Just as her face was about to turn the shade of her hair in anger, she heard a soft, "Meow".

"Oh there you are Happy!" Said the salmon haired guy with a huge grin. From under the desk came a cute blue _(?)_ cat. Erza also had a cat so she had a small smile on her face. She snapped back to her senses and examined the guy. He had spiky, salmon hair (_has to be dyed (?))_, black eyes, a white, crumpled shirt, some scratch marks, baggy black trousers and a white scarf. "Mr...? What are you doing in the Student Council room which is off limits to every other pupil?" She glared at him. "C'mon Happy, it's time to feed you and I'm so hungry, I could eat a whole elephant!" She was baffled that SHE was being ignored completely! He was now holding up the Blue cat and was about to run out of the room when he noticed Erza. "Hi! My name is Natsu Dragneel and I love food and my cat Happy. Sorry, I've got to meet the student council prez. I bet she's all nerdy and snobby, right Happy?" Natsu received a meow from the cat and he started howling with laughter. That was a big mistake... Erza grabbed him by his collar and lifted him up in the air. "I AM the student council president. Erza Scarlet."

The poor guy was choking and then she dropped him on the floor. After regaining ten of his years back, he spluttered, "Aye sir! Well nice to meet you. You seem nice. Do you know where the cafeteria is? I'm starving." This was the first time ever someone called her nice. She walked in dazed silence with him to the cafeteria while he continued talking nonstop about his cat, food, old school and stuff that really didn't matter. She actually listened attentively. "Say...Natsu, did you dye your hair?" Natsu stopped talking before explaining. "Nope, my hair is naturally Pink like Happy's natural Blue fur."  
"It's Salmon."...

"What?"...

"Your hair is Salmon,"

"...No..It's not the fish..."

"No the colour of your hair is Salmon you idiot!"

"Huh? Isn't Salmon greyish?"

"Salmon is a type of pink..."

"That means it's pink,"

"Salmon,"

"Pink!"

"Salmon!"

They both started laughing in the corridors. This was the first time she laughed in a very long time. It was not fake like all the others, it was real. They both felt that their stomachs would burst. Such a stupid fight had made her feel like she belonged. Everyone stared at Erza as if she had grown another head. Erza was NOT the laughing type. This new _Salmon_ haired boy had re-lifted her spirits. Erza had no friends, so stuff like that never happened. They were still laughing hysterically as they reached the canteen. Natsu was _drooling _with anticipation at all the food. He grabbed Erza's arm forcefully and he chose so much (most of it extremely spicy) food, and then dragged Erza again to a table. She stared in horrified fascination as he gulped down the last remnants of his 6 course meal.

"Let's skip school!" declared Natsu.  
"What? You are joking right?" said Erza in a confused tone.  
"Of course not! You are a smarty pants and I don't care about school. You won't miss anything important, so let's go and have fun!" Before she could protest, he grabbed her princess style and ran at the speed of light out of school.

* * *

**11:45**

It had taken Gray 25 whole stupid minutes to reach the school. Heavily panting, he opened the doors. Was he too late? People were chatting excitedly and he went over to some girl wearing too much make up to ask which room Lucy was in. She said she was in room 503. He ran to the room on the 3rd floor, hoping she was not crying. To his surprise, she was staring at the dress she was supposed to wear in a daze."Umm...Lucy? Sorry I'm late. Lyon didn't wake me up... No I played a prank on him...Spicy pizza..."_ Fuck, I'm becoming just like Lucy who talks and won't stop._ Lucy giggled having the same thought. "Look I'm sorry.." he said at last.  
"It's fine Gray. Eeek!" she squealed, seeing the present he bought for her. "Prada..pink..Thank you so much Gray! You are forgiven 100 times!" She said while hugging Gray with all her might before wearing her shoes and going into another room with the dress she had been just ogling. He realised that was the dress Lucy's mum had used to go to prom. Lucy came out looking beautiful. The dress was long and pink with patterns of red roses.

They made their way downstairs and started the party. It was definitely a night to remember.

...

The party had been a huge success and he had tons of fun, but was now exhausted. It was 9 pm and he had a great idea. He entered his room and switched on his computer. Then he made a website... This was going to be fun.

* * *

**19:35**

"Natsu, we missed the whole day of school! Master will be angry," said Erza with an exasperated tone. Even though she said that, she had quite a lot of fun with Natsu. He had taught her how to play video games and even gone to the theme park with her. "The old man won't mind Erza!" He said in his happy tone of his. She was really far away from her house. Just before she was about to leave, fireworks fired up in the sky. "Wow.." The fireworks had been big and amazing. They were both smiling like cheshire cats and after that he said, "See you tomorrow Erza!" before speeding off with Happy. She simply waved back. _Sigh.. _Now she had to go and find her car.

...

Erza arrived very late at home, approximately 10 pm. She did not even do all that week's homework.. _Oh well. _Erza had got what she wanted. A friend. So why did she still want more? She logged on and checked her emails, just to see how her parents were doing. Before reaching her account, she saw an odd webpage. Something compelled her to read it... The website was called 'Genie'. What a stupid name! Erza read the contents of the page.

_Welcome to Genie For You! One lucky girl who has Scarlet hair will win... a genie! Someone who will make her dream come true. Oh fuck this I haven't got all day so if you have Scarlet hair then just click the link._

Kinda lucky that she had Scarlet hair. She clicked on a link and was now in a chat room.

* * *

_Iceboy: Do you have scarlet hair?_

_Titania: Duh? Why do you think I clicked this link?_

_Iceboy: Shudup_

_Titania: Don't you dare tell me to 'shudup' Iceboy!_

Erza death glared the screen.

_Iceboy: I can so I will. Whats your name? Address? School? Phone number?_

_Titania: Why the hell would I tell you my name? You might be a pedo._

Gray was getting irritated at the stuck up chick.

_Iceboy: I'm not. My name's Gray. I go to Magnolia High. I live in 25 Apollo street. My number is 126354246747._

_Titania: Fine. Erza Scarlet. Fairy Tail. 53 St. Claire Street. Don't have a phone._

_Iceboy: Are you fucking serious? Meet me at Raven Street tomorrow._

and he turned off the chat. She didn't even know what he looked like! She somehow trusted him with all her personal information for unknown reasons. She had a peaceful slumber.

Gray also slept with no nightmares that night. He must have found the right girl.

* * *

**So watcha think? :D ik, seriously long xD Hope you liked it *^^***


	2. The Disaster

Be my Raven, and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Heya again! :D Hope you all enjoyed chapter 1 ;). This week I'm feeling very optimistic actually :D (usually I'm probably the most pessimistic person in this whole word xD). And thank goodness I can finally use my computer instead of the tablet which gives me hell xD. FYI NaLu sadly won't be in this chapter :( (Or maybe they will be? :D). Gray and Erza may or may not meet :p It's all a mystery unless you find out. I actually have no clue what will happen except for one big, certain event. I may get to upload this really quickly (keyword: may...and just realised is the month May xD...really bad pun...) So anyways, Enjoy! :D Btw strong language!**

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters :(. But the story plot is mine and mine only! MUHUHAHAHA! XD**

**Chapter II: The Disaster**

**5:55 am**

"Ring! Ring!" Erza woke up in a daze, picking up her glasses from her bedside table and looking at the time. _Oh no! How could I oversleep today or all days? _Then the Scarlet haired Student Council President realised that it was a **Saturday.** Why was she getting so imperfect by the second? She rubbed her eyes before remembering yesterday's events. _Natsu Dragneel. That bastard Iceboy. Who the hell calls themselves that, a 3 year old?_ She remembered the annoying guy and also their scheduled meeting, however, she had not even asked for the time. Erza logged on her laptop and stared at the screen. Then, she clicked the link which sent her to the chat room of hell once more:

_Titania: You there?_

_Iceboy: Yeah. Stop writing like a know it all nerd..._

_Titania: Well for your information, 'Iceboy', I am the Student Council President of Fairy Tail AND I get the best grades. While you are probably... A junkie drug addict with not even one brain cell._

_Iceboy: Bitch_

_Titania: What did you just say to me you impertinent junkie?_

_Iceboy: Am 100% sure u have no friends cause you're a colossal bitch :)._

Did he just put a smiley next to that insulting comment? Erza sat there, her hands trembling with anger and startled at how this boy dared talk to her like that. She replied with blood rushing to her face.

_Titania: For your information 'Iceboy' I actually do have a friend._

_Iceboy: Exactly my point. One._

_Titania: Stop talking to me like you know everything you bastard!_

_Iceboy: I have a name. Gray. Remember or u r dead. And u r pretty stupid, u r WRITING NOT TALKING. Guess I've got more brain cells than some random chick (A.K.A. U!). So y don't u have girlfriends?_

_Titania: Excuse me? Do I look like a homosexual (although I have nothing against them)?_

Gray snorts as he receives that message. He had a really long job to do.

_Iceboy: R u completely and utterly clueless? Girlfriend means a friend who is a girl to you. Nothing more. I know that your only 'friend' is probably a crazy boy who loves spicy food and is a junkie who seems high all the time._

_Titania: ... How do you know? And stop saying that, Natsu is a great person, he is just very high maintenance._

_Iceboy: So his name is Natsu..._

That name sounded awfully familiar to Gray. However, he was too absorbed in his first conversation with a nerd to be bothered to remember.

_Titania: Just shut up! Tell me where in Raven Street we are meeting and what time!_

The great Erza felt completely exasperated. This guy was making even hell seem like a nice place to stay.

_Iceboy: Chill_ **(get it? Chill? Iceboy? Gray? Yeah, so need to improve on puns...)**_, ok meet me at the phone shop in 30 minutes._

**_Iceboy has left the chat_**

_Ugh!_ Erza wanted to scream to the whole world that this guy was an asshole who thought he could control her life. She breathed slowly trying to gain her composure. The Titania was never late, and she was certainly not going to be the second person to arrive on the date... Did Erza just say _date_ ? No, it could not be! It was just a meeting with two strangers who happened to be a boy and a girl with no romantic feelings! _They should really make a name for that..._ Erza was going through a moment of insanity; hot tea would get her thinking straight. She put on some black boots, which matched her dark shades, some ripped Scarlet jeans with a white crop top and a black leather jacket. Erza _did _have her mother's style, even though she usually wore simpler clothes as she rarely left the house, except for school. Her brain was too frazzled to use the stairs, so she used the elevator instead. A long_ sigh _escaped her lips, and not for good reasons **[btw do not sigh! I heard you lose a bit of happiness each time, and after you sigh too many times, all your happiness will be gone :( ]** .

"Good morning Erza sweetie how are you my beautiful, amazing, brilliant daughter? What would you like today sweetie? Some hot choc for cheering up? Coffee to wake you up? Tea for a stressed brain?" I probably should give an explanation on why Erza's mum was speaking but not actually there but 5000 miles away. It all started when Erza's mum had found out that she was pregnant. She had gone through temporary insanity, then total mum mode. She tied back her Purple hair whenever she had an idea, and got on with her plan. She installed her voice on the elevator by saying greetings and little messages for her_ adorable, perfect, incredible daughter _**( and yes, she had a great mother's intuition that the child was going to be a girl)**. She had gone through tons of hard work, and even made sure that the elevator knew that it was her daughter's DNA before saying those joyful messages. Erza had been born premature with a hole in her heart **(personal experience for me actually xD Only had an 80% chance it would close. Luckily, it did :D) **and everyone had been worried. But she was a strong child and pulled through.

" Could I please have tea mum?"

"Of course sweetie! It's in the kitchen in 5...4...3...2...1... Done!"

A loud _ping _came from the kitchen and she sipped her tea silently. She had twenty minutes left; it was time to go (even though the journey would only take her 10 minutes by car).

* * *

**5:58 am**

Gray had been thoroughly enjoying himself, thinking of different ways she looked. Maybe with spots? Or braces? He was laughing his head off **( should I hate Gray? xD I know I made him like this but I have created a monster! Everyone has spots, no one has perfect skin...And braces can help in the future to have perfect teeth, so what's the problem? Ik I'm weird, but he has to be an asshole like that..)**. He wanted to leave her waiting for one hour. He suddenly gained a huge headache and a voice paralysed him. _Do not even dare Gray. _It was Ul! He scratched his messy, Raven hair, knowing that Ul would not like him to leave this chick waiting. He quickly dressed himself in a prussian blue shirt and left the two top buttons open, baggy black jeans and blue Nike trainers. He didn't want to disturb Lyon, so he just took a burger in the fridge and left the house.

Gray sat on the bench in front of the shop, surprised by how early he had arrived. In the distance, he caught a glimpse of Scarlet hair blowing in the wind. His eyes were bulging as he saw the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

...

"You bastard!" screamed Erza before kicking him in the family jewels. Knowing that the Raven haired boy had been Gray was very easy. She had imagined him sitting in a vulgar pose which boys called 'cool' and had seen someone exactly like that, just having a feeling that he was the one.

_Scratch that_, she was a violent psycho!

"What the hell is your problem!" said Gray while standing up and making himself as tall as his height would allow, and he was shocked to see that she was actually shorter, even though she seemed so imposing.  
"You are my problem! How dare you come before me?" Lighting was being conducted thanks to their glares. Then Gray realized..._ she is only angry because I was fucking early? _Before he could stop himself, he started howling like a madman in front of Erza, clutching his stomach tightly. Erza just stared at Gray with utter shock; she couldn't even will herself to punch him in the gut. Well this was a strange meeting. However, what they didn't know was that someone was lurking in the shadows, watching them...

* * *

Lucy stared at her best friend being kicked in his manhood and stifled her laughter. This girl, Erza, seemed like a good person, and she wanted to know about her more. Lucy had received an e-mail accidentally which talked about something to do with meeting someone. Then, Lucy had been curious, and as the official Gossip Girl and best writer in the school, she just HAD to know. Gray was never early on a date... NEVER. What was she to him and why was she special? Sure, Lucy had had a crush on Gray once, but that was because she had thought he had been a great person. Now she was COMPLETELY over him... or so she thought. Did her heart just clench a little when she saw him with another girl? _Nope, definitely not._

Lucy started walking in the other direction and smiled to herself, wondering if she should ask her good friend Mira to be an epic matchmaker for them. She had been closing her eyes in thought as she banged into someone. They both fell on the floor. There on the floor was a Blue_(?)_ cat and a guy with Pink hair. "Happy are you okay?" He completely neglected her. The cat meowed in reply. Relief was apparent in his expression.

"Oi! How dare you push me?" He suddenly had a very thunderous expression **(you know the expression that looks really crazy when Natsu is fighting an enemy?) **at her shouting at him, and she felt herself backing away from him. "Huh? Why are you dressed so suspiciously? Like... Shelbon Bones!"

The blonde girl stopped being startled and slapped her forehead.  
"It's Sherlock Holmes, stupid. And it was your fault for pushing me, you Pink haired boy!"  
"Salmon"  
"Huh?" replied Lucy, perplexed.  
"It's Salmon. My new friend told me my hair was actually Salmon," he started grinning at the good memories.  
"Like... the fish? But why didn't your cat...Happy then eat your hair?"  
"No! It's the colour silly! You're weird..."  
"How dare you call me weird! You just said your friend thought you the meaning recently!" screamed Lucy.

They then realised they were in the centre of attention and still on the floor, and to her horror, Erza and Gray were coming their way. Lucy grabbed the _Pinkette _and he took his Blue cat. She pulled him to the closest door she could see. She opened the door and locked it shut. She was panting heavily from all that fiasco. She slowly turned, and realised her error.. AGAIN! She had been locked in the WC cubicle with this guy. It was very tiny, only a few centimetres of space between them. She turned to the door, but before reaching it, the door was locked shut with a key... She barely noticed the sign saying that** this cubicle does not work**. _Damn! Damn! Damn! Where is my cell? I need to call the police. It should be a crime locking people up! _She searched her pockets but to no avail. She had left her cell phone at home. Just as she was searching again, an arm was wrapped around her waist and she could _feel _the Pinkette breathing on her neck. Her body was paralysed, she could not move. Her heart thudded uncomfortably in her chest.

"Hey.." He whispered in a low, husky voice. Just as something was _supposed _to happen, her stomach gave an unearthly growl. It resonated throughout the city. She felt like dying with mortification. He let go of her.

"Oi Happy! Was that an Earthquake?" the cat simply meowed. She felt her face flush red.  
"Good thing I have food!" She turned around and looked at the boy standing in front of her, smiling so brightly it was way too infectious and should have been a crime or something sold on the black market. She smiled back and nodded to say thanks. He gave her a crisp packet.  
"Be careful err..."  
"Lucy" She smiled,  
"Luce, it will burn like the fires of hell! By the way, my name is Natsu." When he told her it burned like the fires of hell, she really should have believed him. Her mouth was burning at the first bite and was lolling her tongue like a dog while fanning it.

"Look Happy, she's a dog, your arch enemy," laughed Natsu, enjoying seeing her in pain. _What a sadistic guy! _Then he reached in his pocket and gave her _freezing _cold water to help her throat. She was very grateful. She suddenly didn't feel hungry anymore. But there was still a _tiny..okay a HUGE problem! _She was stuck with a guy in a WC and had only a few millimetres away now while her heart was pounding loudly, and who knows when they would be free again? This was going to be a long night.

* * *

**6:50 am**

Erza had been in the store with Gray for over one hour. She couldn't find any phone she liked! She exhaled, getting tired and tried not feeling angry at every little comment that came out of his mouth.

"Erza! What about this one?" Up until now, Gray had not offered any suggestions, but now he had found one. It was a Samsung Galaxy S5 and had a Scarlet cover with studded, real rubies which formed the shape of a sword. Erza knew it was the one as soon as she laid her eyes on it. Gray stifled a chuckle and put the phone on the counter.  
"How much?" Asked Gray.  
"£4905 sir." Erza was sure that was a complete rip-off, and so did Gray.  
"How much?" He gave an icy stare to the person behind the desk. They involuntarily gulped and said,  
"£450 sir." Gray smiled at his victory and paid for the phone. Before Erza could protest, he typed his number in her phone and put her phone number in his.

"Why did you pay for MY phone?" He simply shrugged and said,  
"You owe me." Erza hated, no _detested _owing anyone, but she had no choice. She reluctantly took back her phone and stared at it for a few minutes before putting it in her Gucci scarlet bag. A woman banged into both Gray and Erza, making them topple over each other, and Erza was on top of him. Erza went beet red while Gray paled at the beauty on top of him. Time seemed to slow down, and Erza hoped her hair was covering her embarrassing expression. She went back to reality when he coughed and she stood up, all her muscles tense, while he lazily got up. She picked her bag from the floor and started walking to the exit when...

"Ding! Ding! Ding!" The thief alarm started buzzing as Gray and Erza stepped on the exit line. They were both searched and to their horror, phones which they had never seen were in both their bags. They were hauled to the police station, and then put in the same cell. Erza was in a corner away from the moonlight, sobbing at her misfortune. _Why oh why did I get a criminal record? What did I do to deserve it?_ She felt utterly depressed. Gray already had a clue what to do, but he first needed to comfort the vulnerable _girl _in front of him. She seemed so strong a few hours ago, standing tall and proud like a queen, but now she seemed a beautiful mess with tangled, Scarlet hair. He slowly walked and sat next to her, stroking her hair. She leaned on him, sobbing more loudly and letting her pain being absorbed. Slowly, they both fell asleep almost in unison, both having troubled dreams of jail and no freedom.

**Tada! Now that was a twist :p Can you guess who the culprit was and the reasons? (A.K.A. someone in Fairy Tail). Finished this all in one day, so I'm pretty proud of myself :D. I just turned pessimistic again but whatever, it will pass soon enough xD. My arms ache so badly from endless typing. And I actually did add NaLu so I'm even more proud of myself! :D Btw my sister found out about this story xD But now she can be my Beta (although she is doing a very lousy job xD). It's finally Friday, my favourite day of the week! I will mostly just sleep, eat and read xD. And the reason why this is much shorter than the first is because I had tons to write on chapter one cause it was an intro to every MAIN character xD Bye :p Review if you want ;)**


	3. No Strawberry on the Strawberry Cake

Be my Raven, and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Heya again! :D Just had a really long bath and a muller yogurt (it was strawberry, my fav fruit :D). I can't believe I have over 200 views O-O... probably my computer messing with me xD. And also I said I would be really slow at updating, but I guess I lied :O, so much for my busy life style xD. Anyways, I bet you were all surprised that Erza went to jail right? :D The mystery character was supposed to be revealed first thing this chapter, however, I am really not bothered and would like to keep the suspense (maybe :D). Enjoy! Btw, strong language from Gray (tut-tut, when did he become such a bad boy? - Need to wash his mouth with soap :D) and the mystery character and Lucy actually :O.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Fairy Tail or there would be tons of Grayza action by now xD But I do own the story plot, its all mine! :D**

**Chapter III: No Strawberry on the Strawberry Cheesecake**

**In the WC: Midnight**

Lucy had been stuck in the WC for a couple of hours with Natsu and his cat Happy. They were both sleeping soundly but Natsu was making infernal snoring noises. Now, the Salmon haired boy was sleeping on the toilet seat, which made Lucy giggle._ Better put this as my new screen saver _thought Lucy while smiling to herself. He looked so helpless that she wanted to ruffle his hair. Just as she unconsciously reached to ruffle his hair, a soft "Meow" got her back to her senses. She saw Happy licking his paw while shaking his head as if to say _no_, and the blonde just sighed. How could Lucy even think of liking this guy? He was _loud, crazy, annoying, sweet, funny, cute... Whoa whoa whoa! _Lucy stopped her thought process before it could get any more ridiculous. It had only been a few hours since she met this guy and she thought that he was _cute?_ She started cursing herself under her breath for liking people too easily. Then again, her crazy besty Juvia was much more boy crazy, and Lucy didn't even have a boyfriend in her whole 16 years of life. She deeply sighed again. Suddenly...

* * *

**Police station**

_"Gray." Who was that? "Gray wake up!" It was Ul again! But this wasn't his usual nightmare. "Remember a deed you did." What deed? "That deed is the reason for the Scarlet haired girl's suffering. Say sorry before it's too late." Ul please don't go. Stay! What deed? Please..._

Gray woke up with a start, gasping for oxygen. The moon from the window showed that it was still night time. Gray felt exhausted. He then remembered that Erza Scarlet was sleeping on his shoulder soundly, and tried to be as still as possible. Who could he have wronged this time? Lyon didn't hold grudges on him for too long, so he was definitely out. What about Lucy? No, she wasn't anywhere near him, even though he heard her voice and caught a glimpse of a Blonde haired girl running with a Salmon haired guy. Did Lucy have a boyfriend? Probably not. Even if she was boy crazy, no one knew except him that she was actually extremely shy when it came to matters of love. He scratched his Raven hair in annoyance. Why wasn't anyone standing out to him? _No... It can't be. Just no. Fuck, why is it always my fault?_

He urgently, no **now **needed a phone. He realised with dismay that it had been confiscated. He angrily glared at the wall, daring it to contradict him. He then had an idea. When they had been interviewed, this is what happened:

_Flashback: "What is your name?" Erza sat silently, staring at the Heavens in hope that this was all just a bad dream. "Miss? If you don't answer, you will be in much more trouble." But Erza was momentarily deaf. She could not hear a single sound, or look at the impatient but sympathetic face of the officer in front of her. "Erza. Her name is Erza." Gray simply answered for her. He was sitting in his usual, slouched mode. He looked like he would rather be in Africa **(where btw it is extremely hot and Gray can't stand the heat :D) **than in a police station. They had done nothing wrong, so why were they still there? They both sat in frosty silence, both in a state of disbelief and shock. "Please give us your personal belongings; they need to be confiscated, including your phones." Droned on the robotic officer. Gray placed his phone on the desk with a thud while Erza was still in shock. "Miss? Your phone?" Gray thought of a good idea.  
" She doesn't have a phone. We were planning on buying one for her today, but then someone bumped into us and placed the phones into our bags. She didn't find anything she liked, so we were going home when the alarm bleeped. I'm telling you we are fucking innocent!" said Gray enraged while standing up and banging his fist on the table.  
"Calm down sir!" Even as the officer said this, Gray knew that he was frightened of him. Gray lazily sat down and glared at the officer. "We will look at the specific moment in the CCTV to see if your statement is true. What is your relationship with this girl by the way?" Gray was baffled. He couldn't say she was some random stranger who he met online and was told to meet by his deceased mother in a recurring nightmare. Sounded way too crazy... So he made up a complete lie. Luckily, Erza couldn't hear him or he would have been murdered and then she would really be a criminal. "Erm... She's my girlfriend. We just started dating a few days ago," said Gray shyly while turning the colour of his companions hair colour. Gray had** never **felt embarrassed in his life, but it was happening now. The police officer grinned and said in a cheerful voice,  
" Congratulations! I will make sure to check on the CCTV the real culprit, so rest assured. For now, we need to keep you two love birds in a cell, just for the formalities. But don't do anything indecent!" Gray felt utterly humiliated. Erza was still not listening and was dragged by Gray into a tiny cell._

_End of Flashback_

He gingerly searched in Erza's jean pockets for her phone while his face turned bright red from the memories.

* * *

**At a Cafe nearby**

The culprit was drinking tea, although they would prefer something more... alcoholic. The culprit was smiling, listening to the sound of the clock ticking, showing each second passing by, showing how much more the detestable punk was going to suffer. _He is a fucking bastard who deserves to die a million times, that jerk._ Sure, the culprit had not wanted to involve the Scarlet haired girl, but it seemed more fun that they would both would go down. After all, she was the Titania of Fairy Tail, and no one would **ever **believe that she went to jail. The culprit cackled maniacally at the thought. What Gray did was unforgivable, and unless he apologised, he was going down. The culprit's phone started beeping to the tune 'Young, Wild and Free'. The culprit instinctively reached for their phone and said "Herro?" **(yesh, it's supposed to be spelled like that :D)** The harsh voice on the other line surprised the culprit mildly, "Bitch!"

* * *

**The WC (Again xD)**

"Knock! Knock! Knock!" The WC door was being knocked impatiently. Lucy felt her heart being clutched by fear. Natsu woke up with a start and was about to yell when Lucy put her hand over his mouth. She went closer to him and whispered, "Shush Natsu, be as quiet as possible!" Her voice was trembling and Natsu knew she was frightened. She then removed her hand from his mouth, realising that she had done something so rash and weird to a stranger. Her heart was now pounding for a different reason. Lucy seemed so vulnerable in Natsu's eyes, so he took his scarf from his neck, used it to cover his mouth and went 'ninja mode' **(Like in ep 3(?) I think xD).**  
"Don't worry Luce, Natsu the ninja will protect you with his kung fu skills," while doing some bizarre action. She wanted to laugh and shout at him that it was not appropriate at the time but something in her memory was nagging her. She then remembered on the news:

_"Good morning and welcome to Magnolia News. Today, there have been 7 serial killings from the same mad criminal. He goes to public WC's and knocks several times on them. Then he used a sharp object to scratch the door. It then goes deathly silent. And when you think you are safe, you hear the sound of drums and you know Hell will come for you in that moment. Whatever you do, please citizens do not enter public WC's as you may be in great danger. When the drum repeats the beat 3 times, you will be dead. All public WC's are being locked in Magnolia to keep the safety of citizens. Be careful and be safe. Report from Mirajane Strauss."_

_Why oh why didn't I listen to that report? Of course not, it was on April Fools Day... I don't want to die! _Silent tears streamed down the Blonde's face, and Natsu rubbed her back to give her comfort. She suddenly looked up at him and said, "Natsu..." and told him the news report. They were in deep trouble now...

_..._

Natsu's brain was frazzled with a billion thoughts. _Will I die today? How should I protect Luce? Baguette? Hungry? Can Happy bite him? Need food to think? Maybe Erza can help? Confused? Is my hair really Salmon? _and other random thoughts which mattered even less than these jumbled up ones. He then heard the sound of..._ scraping_? What did Luce say again? _Then he used a sharp object to scratch the door. _This was the second stage! Natsu tried to remain as calm as possible, even though he realised with dread that his heart was beating 20 times more rapidly than normal. He needed to think. Was there another way out of the WC? _YES! _Natsu had a **splendid (cough, cough not so splendid xD) **idea. He whispered silently to Luce. She couldn't hear him so she leaned closer. He now realised that this was actually the closest he had ever been to a girl, including _Lisanna_, he thought with a pang at his heart. There was no time for this. He whispered his idea again.

* * *

**Erza's Imagination**

Erza was having the most blissful dream in her whole 15 years of life! She had gone to a new pastry shop around the corner. She heard they made the most delicious Strawberry cheesecakes in the whole world. She walked in a trance practically **drooling** with longing. However, her beautiful dream was about to turn into a nightmare.

She entered the shop, and saw in display 200 different types of cakes. She felt in _Paradise _and her mind started singing the chorus of Paradise by Coldplay. She ordered a whole Strawberry cheesecake with extra cream, an extra cake and extra strawberries. Erza waited impatiently as they took over 30 minutes to make her cake. She stomped over to the counter, banged her fist on the surface and said in a cold, menacing tone, "Where. Is. My. Cake." No one should ever anger Erza Scarlet, but the girl at the counter just chewed her gum and ignored her. The stupid girl was **oh so scared of the Titantia, definitely,** but looked another direction to hide it. Erza, in her fury, grabbed the poor girl by her collar and threw her on the wall. She sat leaning on the wall in pained and dazed silence. Everyone retreated from Erza as if she was a monster. Her beautiful features were turned into a mask of anger. She quietly muttered again "Where. Is. My. Cheesecake." The whole shop was in silence...

Suddenly, a loud "Ding!" came, soon followed with her order. A peaceful and happy smile possessed her face and she sat on her table. People stared at her with utter disbelief. So much cake was piled and her mouth was watering before remembering a crucial fact. The guy who served her cakes said, "We are sorry Miss, but we ran out of strawberries." Erza just whispered in a small, soft voice, "No strawberry...no strawberry on... the cheesecake," before screaming to the universe. Even God heard her scream...

* * *

**In the WC( Again? xD)**

Lucy screamed with shock, forgetting about the serial killer at the door, "YOU WANT US TO DIG A FUCKING HOLE?"

**Finished the third chapter. Having a random celebration xD. Hope you like the story! :D Thank you so much for your reviews, I really appreciate them :D. And sorry for spelling mistakes etc. I don't really check, and even when I do, I miss stuff xD. Hope you guys have an epic day :D. Sorry that this is way shorter than the first and second :s I'll try to make the 4th longer :D.**


	4. Good To You

Be my Raven, and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Hiya! :D So how are you guys? ;) Right now I'm watching a 28 episode Korean movie called Shining Inheritance. It's amazing, I recommend that you watch it with subtitles :D. But anyways, I just wanted to say that I am actually making up this story line as I go on - ... I'm sorry :( I know the basic storyline and some events that happen, but everything else just comes at the spur of the moment xD. Like last chapter, my muller yogurt was strawberry shortcake, and it reminded me of Erza's sweet tooth. The serial killer idea came from Jack the Ripper because I'm currently writing a few novels and in one of them she is talking about Jack the Ripper xD. I hope you guys aren't too disappointed in me, but I'll try my hardest to make this story funny and make you all smile and love Grayza even more :D. Anyways, in this chapter the mystery person will be first thing this chapter, and yes, strong language from _her _and Gray who has just become a perv as well as a bad mouthed bad guy :D. Enjoy ;p.**

**DISCLAIMER: I wish I own Fairy Tail but I don't. But of course, this plot is still mine :p**

**Chapter IV: Good To You**

**In Cafe**

Cana Alberona was sitting there awaiting a message or something similar. That stupid Gray had nearly taken her life source away, and he needed to pay. Cana was also a childhood friend of Gray, a bit after Lucy. She had been a really sweet, kind girl, always being nice to everyone and always being called a fallen angel. People even started nicknaming her Angel. This is until she turned 14. Gray had played a prank on her and had accidentally on purpose told her the wrong address of the estate which was supposed to have a big pool. She ended up at a bar, and drank all her sorrows away. She had been with Hibiki a few days before until they had an argument and split up** (again)**. She then realised that she had very high tolerance for alcohol, and kept on drinking, and drinking... and drinking... and drinking... and drinking...

Her fists clenched at the next flashback:

_"Gray! Pass me the booze, I'm thirsty." Instead of doing as he was told, the Raven haired boy took all the beer, wine, champagne, vodka etc. He placed his bundle in a trash bin, which soon got carried off by a pick-up truck collecting garbage. Cana stood there by the living room door with her mouth agape with disbelief. After Gray sat down again, she screamed, her face turning 20 shades of purple, " GRAY YOU STUPID ASS JERK! WHY THE HELL DID YOU THROW ALL MY BABIES?! THEY COST OVER £12,000 IN TOTAL AND MY DAD WILL KILL ME IF HE FRICKING FINDS OUT!" Gray just sat there calmly staring at the TV screen while flicking channels which seemed tedious and boring. After about 5 minutes of complete silence he said, "You need to stop Cana. Even Hibiki is worried. All you have is alcohol 24/7. Give it a rest!" His voice was callous and threatening. Without another word, he left. In just a few seconds, Cana Alberona's life was ruined..._

Her phone rang to the tune of "Young, Wild and Free". It was her favourite song because it described her perfectly and her love for drinking and parties.  
"Herro?" she answered in a dog impersonation, since some of her drinking friends called her 'barking mad'.  
"Bitch!" answered the voice she was expecting.  
"Why hello Gray. Having fun in prison with the SCP (Student Council Prez) of Fairy Tail? Did you already snog her? Tell your good friend some gossip, she is DYING of boredom!" Cana knew that Gray hated people talking in third person for no reason as it made no sense to him. He also knew she knew and he knew she was winding him up.

"Shut up. And I just met her Cana!"  
"Well so? You snog a girl you 'just met' in less than an hour. And I know for a fact this isn't your phone number, so it must be Erza's"  
"Those people are different. Now, Cana stop being a bitch and tell the police the truth. Er..Erza**(Gray is so cute, finding it hard to say her name :p) **has been crying all night for goodness sake! And then I'll be responsible for her not having a good career because she got a criminal record!" His voice kept being more loud and exasperated as he continued on.

"My, my Gray, are you actually falling in love? And say please and then I'll do something," said Cana in an amused tone.  
"I AM NOT IN LOVE!" Gray then realised that Erza was about to wake up, but after staying silent for a few seconds, she fell asleep again. Quietly, he whispered, "Cana, look, please just stop with this joke and I'll do anything."  
"Now that's a deal!" screamed Cana on the telephone line, and then she hanged up while making her way to the police station. As she walked, she saw a figure near the locked up WC. She chose to ignore it.

* * *

**In the WC**

"Natsu we are going to die and you suggest to dig a hole? Are you blind as well as crazy?" screamed Lucy in the quietest scream humanly possible. "Well duh Luce, we are in total darkness, so of course I'm blind at the moment. Sometimes girls can be so stupid, right Happy?" The cat meowed in reply at the satisfied owner.

"Stop asking a cat! And this whole WC is metallic, so how do you suggest we dig a hole through it?" Lucy whispered in a voice filled with rage.

"You are mean..." said Natsu in a soft voice before pouting like a 5 year old. Lucy saw that she had _maybe _been too harsh to him. But then the Salmon haired guy was pouting even more and was crossing his arms over his chest while being huddled in a small corner. Lucy was totally at a loss. The scraping sound was the only noise in all that darkness. It was becoming more and more persistent. Lucy prayed and begged God with all her might while whimpering a bit to spare her life. Sure, she had not been a very good person. Like the time she was supposed to buy her BFF an earring, but bought it for herself and gave her shoes instead. Or the time she ran away from home thinking that no one would want her anyway, but instead a whole search party had been searching for the "Poor little rich girl". Or the other time she wanted to watch Twilight and made sure to have the cinema only for herself and a few friends, while all the other people who wanted to watch it were made to reschedule... _Okay fine! I'm one of the worst humans, so sue me! But please don't make me die! I'm still young and haven't had my first kiss yet!_

...

Natsu was not actually pouting. He was thinking of the scratching noise. It sounded really familiar... _Happy? Or was I happy? Why is Luce mumbling to herself? She must be crazy... Food? Need to eat? Death? Will kick this bastard... Hungry.. Need food... Why is Luce staring at me? Glad I made a friend yesterday... Sleepy... Maybe if I sleep it will go away? Luce is staring at me in a verrryy creepy way O-O..._

Natsu was feeling peckish, so he said "Oi Luce, pass me something spicy please!" Lucy complied and he grinned at her, his bad humour gone. Lucy gave a weak grin back. _What is she thinking? _Thought Natsu. She seemed to be going further and further away from him. She passed him a crisp packet and as their fingers brushed slightly, she instantly felt a spark on her fingertips and dropped the packet. Natsu glared at her in a patronising way. He thought Lucy was weird first, but now she was being completely bonkers! Did he do something wrong? "Luce, did I do something?... Because if I've offended you in any way, I'm sorry..." Lucy was blinking rapidly at Natsu, and he saw faintly that her cheeks were _red? Was she blushing? O-O_

...

Lucy had been thinking over and over again: _If I die today, at least I can have my first kiss with Natsu... _and then thinking: _Are you crazy Lucy? Look, he probably doesn't even like you. He might. He definitely does not. Then even if I kiss him it won't mean anything to him. Exactly. Exactly what? He doesn't like you! What if he does? What if he doesn't? He might want to kiss me to even though he has no feelings for me...yet._ And her inner battle continuing on and on.

Happy was taking a double take at the pair of humans. His master was stupid but caring. This girl was weird but nice. He wished he could talk to make Natsu, his oblivious owner, see sense. _She obviously likes you Natsu! Just kiss her!_ and then Happy thought about _fish, Ariel looks tasty :3. Oh yeah! If I could just sing that song in the movie to him... Natsu loves watching Disney movies..._

_There you see her_  
_Sitting there across the way_  
_She don't got a lot to say_  
_But there's something about her_  
_And you don't know why_  
_But you're dying to try_  
_You wanna kiss the girl_

_Yes, you want her_  
_Look at her, you know you do_  
_Possible she wants you too_  
_There is one way to ask her_  
_It don't take a word_  
_Not a single word_  
_Go on and kiss the girl_

_Sha la la la la la_  
_My oh my_  
_Look like the boy too shy_  
_Ain't gonna kiss the girl_  
_Sha la la la la la_  
_Ain't that sad?_  
_Ain't it a shame?_  
_Too bad, he gonna miss the girl_

...

Natsu was going crazy O-O... **(That was obvious a LONG time ago xD) **He just heard his cat singing in his head his favourite song from the Little Mermaid. He was 100% sure that it was Happy's voice. Should he follow his head? _Yes. No. Yes. But what if it's Luce's first kiss? Nah.. not possible. Maybe? Yes? Okay yes... _Natsu went over to Lucy, crouched in front of her, cupped her face with his warm hands, and leaned closer..and closer. Lucy closed her eyes tightly, thinking about the near kiss...

* * *

**In the Cell- 30 minutes before the scene on top of this one :D**

Erza woke abruptly from her terrible nightmare. How could they not let her have her strawberries? _Imbeciles! _She thought with the venom of a Coral snake. The guy..._ Gray, _she remembered, was sleeping. He seemed troubled. Sweat was slowly dripping from his forehead and his arm around her was gripping her tightly, as if protecting her. Erza felt embarrassed at showing her weak side to him, but she did not want to put her barriers up as soon as he had been so kind to lend his shoulder to lean on. She took hold of his freezing hands and held them. Once his hands felt a little warmer, she made her legs perfectly vertical and gently made his head rest on her lap. Gray seemed instantly better. His breathing was slowing down and he was not gripping at her clothes anymore. Erza smiled a little at how much younger and cuter he looked, while he blissfully slept. She unconsciously started ruffling his Raven hair slowly. Erza realised that his hair was very silky, and she felt like touching his hair more and more **(have I now made Erza some sort of sadist? O-O... I'm worried were this story is going xD).** Erza had been 99.9% certain that she would hate this guy, but now.. Let's just say she wasn't so sure. _I mean, can a jerk really buy a complete stranger an expensive phone? Or comfort someone? Maybe... _Erza **(sigh...) **was still in 50% denial over how much of a jerk she thought he actually was.

Erza remembered that when her and her mum had been going to the Safari, she had always had nightmares...

_Flashback: Little eight year old Erza had woken up from a terrible nightmare. Her mother, preoccupied for her young daughter asked, "Sweetie? Are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?" Her mother's voice was so sweet and filled with love that she could only whimper. Her mother sat beside her. "What's wrong sweetie pie tell me," and flashed a reassuring smile.  
"Mummy... I had a nightmare... There was this boy... I was in his head... All I could see was darkness... He kept on saying it was all his fault... he said he killed someone..." Little Erza's voice was barely an audible whisper. Her mother stared at her daughter, contemplating about the nightmare and how to calm her daughter.  
"Erza... whatever you do, do not forget that nightmare. It may be extremely important." Erza was surprised at the severity in her mother's voice. She was the one who made her watch kids movies in the cinema because she actually wanted to watch them, and her daughter was an excuse to go. She was the one that said all parents are young and should live their fullest as if every day was their last day. She was the one that was always smiling and caring, just like a fairy Queen. Erza wanted to be just like her mum, a fairy queen... **(geddit? :D Queen of fairies? Erza the Queen of Fairy Tail? :D Honestly, if I ever become a comedian then I'll go bankrupt xD) **Little Erza's mum quickly composed herself into a loving mother mode **(which was there 99.9% of the time) **and said," Erza, do you want mummy to sing you a lullaby?" Erza nodded in approval with a big grin._

**_Disclaimer: (Again xD) This song is a lullaby I made up on the spot and is exclusively mine :D _**_© **And just to make my point, I put the copyright symbol :D. If you ever want to use it, then you have to ask :p And I will sue if you don't :D (Jk of course I won't sue xD Will just ask for an apology :p)**_

_"The Little Girl with Scarlet hair,_  
_sat alone on an oak tree,_  
_While looking at the sun glistening,_  
_Trying to think of a game to play._  
_She was bored, she was tired,_  
_She wanted to soar and fly,_  
_While being the bravest girl,_  
_Protecting all those she cared for,_  
_Little Erza is no longer little,_  
_she wears armour to protect her heart,_  
_she protects others but is scarred,_  
_only one can save her, her final love"_

_Erza was sleeping soundly and her mother knew that she was not going to have that nightmare again. She kissed her baby's forehead, knowing about all the terrible things that would scar her heart in the future... It had only just begun._

She thought about the song which her mother made before her birth. How she knew all those things would happen in real life. Erza rubbed her forehead in intense concentration, thinking of a lullaby to sing to Gray. _Ah! _She had an idea. After that terrifying nightmare, Erza had a dream about her being near an oak tree, and behind the oak tree was a Raven haired boy. She instantly knew it was the boy from her nightmare just before. She had wanted to console him in some way, and the only way she knew how to make others happy._ Singing._

**Btw: This is also Copyrighted :D **©

"Don't cry, just raise your head and stand proud,  
You may feel like screaming out loud,  
No one blames you for her death,  
So just take a deep breath,  
'Cause there's no reason to cry no more!  
She loved you with all her heart!  
Even more than an apple tart!  
Her passing away was not your fault!  
Even though she's a star now,  
You don't have to be a clown!  
Just don't keep it all to yourself, and smile!  
Even through the tough times,  
Even through the pain,  
Remember all those glorious days!  
Cause she's smiling and looking at you from Heaven!  
She loved you with all her heart!  
Even more than an apple tart!  
Her passing away was not your fault!  
Even though she's a star now,  
You don't have to be a clown!  
Just don't keep it all to yourself and smile...!"

Erza felt her jean getting damp, and felt pure horror **(Did the great Erza wet her pants O-O...)** before realising that Gray was crying. Those tears were coming from the bottom of his heart, and he was trying to let the pain seep away. Erza knew somehow that her voice had reached him in his sleep, and he was now letting go of all the hurt in his heart. She continued comforting him by ruffling his Raven hair.

...

Gray had been having a nightmare about the "Accident", in which Ul died. He could remember it all as clear as day. It suddenly stopped, and he felt relief. Then, an angelic voice from his childhood started singing the song he had held closely to in the past. He remembered being in a dream behind and oak tree, and a girl around his age was singing in a beautiful voice the lullaby which had remained in his heart forever, giving him comfort each time he remembered Ul's death. Now he could hear it again. The voice was still so sweet and angelic, but it was much older than the young girl from his dream. Gray remembered his past and let out all the pain which had been tormenting him for years. Someone had been stroking his hair, making him sob even louder and he let out all his buried feelings.

"Cana is here and ready to party!" Gray heard his best friend's voice and shot upright from his sleep. He then caught the gaze or Erza, and they were facing each other. They were only millimetres apart. Both their eyes were bulging out, and Gray finally broke his gaze after what seemed like an eternity, and looked at where he had just slept... _What the hell? Did I sleep on her lap? _Before turning away in embarrassment, while his face was the colour of his partner's hair. Erza was deeply blushing too and turning the other direction.

"Erm..._ (Did I just say that?) _I saw that you had trouble sleeping, so I thought that you would be more comfortable on my lap..." _What the hell am I spouting? _Erza was too nervous and embarrassed at her explanation. Gray calmed himself and said "Thanks." This made Erza's heart swell up with a warm feeling, but of course, she ignored it...

"Gray? Oh Gray where are you my BBFFL **(A.K.A- Bro Best Friend For Life :D)**?" screamed Cana in a sing-song voice.  
"Am here Cana!" said Gray while running to the cell bars.  
"Gray! Hey there buddy. How are chu doing?" said Cana in a childish voice.  
"Shut it Cana. Let us out," glared back Gray.  
"Geez, chillax dude. And I thought you had more fun than me. Now, I'm going to confess, and you have to take Erza home, K?" said Cana loudly while grinning.  
"Whatever," grunted Gray.  
"Who are you and what is your name? Why are you involved in this case?" Said Erza with her prowess back, standing tall and full of authority.  
"Everyone knows you! You are the famous Erza Scarlet. Gimme your phone please!" Erza stared back at the loud girl with wonder before searching her pockets, realising that her phone was not there. Gray looked away, a slight blush creeping on his face as he took the phone from _his _pocket and handed it over to Cana. Erza was staring at Gray with disbelief._ How did he get my phone? _Cana quickly speed dialled her phone number and took out her phone to dial Erza's number.

"Now you can call me anytime you want Student Council Prez." She said much more normally before walking to the officer, telling the story. Luckily, Erza didn't hear that it was all Gray's fault...

"What happened officer is that the guy over there who is my BBFFL took 12,000 Jewels worth of..." Cana stopped herself. She couldn't say alcohol as she would be grounded AND arrested at the same time. "Of what miss?" asked the officer. Cana couldn't think of anything, so she just said, "Something I keep close to my heart _(and my digestive system). _I was angry at him so I put a phone in his bag and the girl's bag as payback. I don't want that innocent girl to get a criminal record because of me, so I want to sincerely apologise." These were probably one of the few moments in Miss. Alberona's life that she sounded civilised. Her brunette locks were blowing lightly in the wind. The officer immediately released the 'couple' and the case would never be spoken of again. Unless Cana was going to blackmailing Erza **(which is of course is going to happen :D) **.

Gray accompanied Erza all the way home.

* * *

**In the Street**

Cana was walking with a smug smile on her face. She quickly texted Gray something.

* * *

**In the WC**

Natsu and Lucy were leaning closer...And closer.

**BAM!**

The door was opened and a tall Brunette with a blue crop shirt and white trousers was doing a kicking action. Cana saw what the pair were about to do and started grinning from ear to ear. The Blonde was staring at her best friend for what seemed like an eternity (Natsu following suit) before screaming, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE CANA?"

"Chillax dudette. Sheesh! You are the second person today getting angry at me! But sorry for interrupting your snog fest," said Cana with a mischievous smile. Natsu and Lucy, both feeling awkward, moved further away from each other, Natsu disturbing a very angry Happy and Lucy fiddling with her hair. Lucy suddenly stopped and screamed, "The serial killer? Where was he? Are we going to d-dd-die? And how did you get in here Cana?"

"Talkative as ever!" chuckled Cana. "Well, I got in here because your stellar keys megigum was on the floor, and since it unlocks every door, I used it and then kicked it open. Oh, by the way, there is a White cat over here which has been trying to get in." Happy instantly fell in love. The cat had White, combed fur and brown eyes. Happy went over to her and wanted to say something, but the White cat gave him a death glare and walked away. How his poor little heart was broken! But Happy was a brave cat which never gave up **(pshu![btw:like spitting water sound] Yeah right xD The brave cat never giving up part...)**. He would fight for his love!

Carla however, was thinking about where her owner went. She never left home on a Saturday, and if she did, she would always be back by 5pm. Carla sighed before going back home, in hope that her owner was there...

...

"Cana thank you so much for saving our lives!" squealed Lucy before jumping on her bestie. "No problemo! Just please don't kill me..."  
"Oops, sorry," said Lucy giggling before loosening her grip. Cana looked at the Salmon haired boy picking up his cat. Her eyes bulged and she screamed, " It's you! Natsu Dragneel!"

* * *

**In the taxi**

Erza had fallen asleep as fast as a bullet. All the stress from that one day had drained her energy. She slept soundly on Gray's shoulder, having a nice dream about a strawberry cheesecake buffet. _Yum!_ Gray stared at the sleeping girl with a protective gaze. He unconsciously took his shirt off and put it around the Scarlet haired sleeping beauty.

"You must really like her," said the taxi driver.  
"Huh?" questioned Gray in a surprised voice.  
"You are staring so lovingly at your girlfriend. Make sure to protect her," winked the taxi driver. Before he could say anything, he had arrived at Erza's house. It was handy that he had asked for her address yesterday. Gray got out of the car and princess carried her. Searching through her bag, he gladly found her keys. _I don't want to be put in jail for sexual assault... _He saw an elevator and used it. There was a helpful scarlet name tag stating 'My darling Erza's room'. He clicked it and went up to the 3rd floor. He then carried Erza into her room.

* * *

**In Erza's room**

Carla had just arrived in her owner's bedroom, using the Cat Society's Shortcuts. As she went on her pillow, she saw a Raven haired man holding her owner! He was also shirtless! Then Carla saw her owners peaceful face and knew he wasn't bad, so she went to sleep.

Gray put Erza on the massive queen sized bed. He stroked her hair and removed her fringe from her eyes. The Raven haired boy sighed and put the covers around Erza. He checked his cell phone and saw that he had a message from Cana. He grunted. Whatever she had written would not be good.

_RE: Dare!Muhuhahahaha!_

_Herro Gray! __Ur dare is 2 record urself on ur fone and singing the chorus of "Good to You" by Marianas Trench. It's such a beautiful song... But anyways, sing it 2 Erza A.S.A. u get his text. She will luv luv LUV ur voice! :D_

Gray knew he had absolutely no choice. At least the Scarlet haired girl was sleeping. He clicked the button to record him singing while showing himself and Erza in the camera's view. He mumbled at first, but as he continued he began to sing more loudly and with confidence:

"And now I do want you to know I hold you up above everyone.  
And now I do want you to know I think you'd be good to me,  
And I'd be so good to you.

I would."

Out of nowhere, he kissed her forehead. He realised with shock at what he did, and quickly stopped the recording and sent it to Cana, hoping she would not see the scene and just focus on him singing...

But he was so wrong!

Gray took his phone and quickly left Erza's house. _Maybe we can meet again..._

* * *

**A few hours after the WC(BTW: There WC scene about her recognising Natsu will happen next chapter :D)**

**In the Cafe: 12 am**

Cana had just received her 'present from Gray'. And what a great present it was! _Now I can also blackmail Gray! _Thought Cana, replaying the kiss on the forehead scene. She also replayed Gray's singing. He had gotten a lot better... a lot better...

**Finally done, finished! Nada to do anymore! :D I think this is longer than chapter 3 xD I wrote so much :D. And Marianas Trench are an epic band, so check them out if you want to :p. Wow I am so surprised it took me so long to finish this. At least the scenes that I wanted to appear actually happened :D So I'm glad :D. Hope I kept it fluffy for you guys with the Grayza and Nalu :3. Soz again for spelling etc. Hope you all liked this chapter :D. Review if you want, I always enjoy reading reviews :D. Want to say something but my mind is blank O-O. Updates will come soon ;)**


	5. Through the Mirror

Be my Raven, and I'll be your Scarlet

**_A/N: Ugh! This stupid stupid computer always ruining what I write! This is the fifth time I write something, and it just completely deletes it, except for the title and coding. I'll stop ranting now xD. Truth be told, I've actually completely forgotten the whole storyline O-O. But don't worry, I'll remember it soon enough :D. I'm honestly just sitting on my chair doing nothing. I don't feel like doing one thing... Probably on my lazy mode... But anyways, thank you all so much for the reviews, they were so nice and I enjoyed reading them :D. There must defo be a virus on my computer as it says that I have over 740 views - .- Nobody warned me that the world just ended! D: How can someone like me have so many views? Thanks again for viewing my meagre attempt at Grayza and Nalu, and I'm so sorry if the characters go OCC, haven't watched Fairy Tail in a while O-O... Hope my memory comes back though xD. BTW: There may be swearing and there may be more Grayza and Nalu. Btw, if you were wondering why I didn't allow Nalu to kiss, it was simply because love is not like that. I know some people fall in love right away, but I wanted to show how hard it was for someone to like you back and how you go from 'liking' to loving, and not just say 'I love you' so easily. If love was so easy to have, then we would all be going out with people we don't even have any feelings for. Soz for going in serious mode xD Will try to put my (cough, cough, very bad xD) jokes to make you all smile and love Grayza :p_**

**DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN FAIRY TAIL , but the story line and story are mine :p**

**Chapter V: Through the Mirror**

**In the WC**

"Natsu Dragneel!" screamed Cana, pure shock on her features. This guy had been M.I.A. for over 9 years **(before Lucy came into the picture :D)**. Natsu stared dumbly at the Brunette, trying to recognise her. His brain couldn't come up with anything, so he just stared back at her in silence. "It's me, Cana Alberona! Do you remember Gray as well?" Then, the memories all flooded back to Natsu: all the fights, all the laughter, and that one incident which he blamed himself for. Natsu's face seemed full of joy one second, then contorted in excruciating pain. He could not handle it. He had to leave. As fast as the speed of light, Natsu picked up his Blue cat and ran. While doing all that, Lucy stared at Natsu intently and how she should have agreed with her father that one time to move to Magnolia earlier, although this is another story for another day.

Cana was dumbfounded. She had re-found a friend and a frienemy of Gray, while almost simultaneously getting to see the two pairs and knowing all four of the unsuspecting couples. Cana needed a drink. She left Lucy and roamed the streets senselessly.

"Cana?" called out a familiar voice. All this time, the Brunette had been staring at the ground, but now she faced a tall man with Blonde hair. Her man. "Hibiki! What are you doing here?" whispered Cana in a relieved tone. "Well, a little birdie told me that you felt anxious and looked worried. And before I say anything else, NO, you are definitely not the worried type." Hibiki smiled warmly. Cana could not keep the goofy smile off her face, even if she knew that love was a stupid thing and it would ruin her. But at that moment, she didn't care about all the bad things she said about love. _So what if it's stupid? So what if it makes you a jerk? So what if I have another fight with Hibiki? This moment is just perfect... _As she thought that, Hibiki saw that Cana was shivering, so removed his white jacket and placed it on her shoulders, while pulling her closer.

"So who was this little birdie?" questioned Cana, suspicious that Hibiki was frequenting any girls. Hibiki chuckled at his jealous girlfriend and teased her by saying, "Guess," while winking at her. She playfully punched him before thinking. Hibiki whispered in a conspiratorial voice,  
"The messenger is like a macaw. If you get this right, I may offer you a drink." This caught Cana's attention. She had not had a drink in _days_.  
"Okay, you're on!" Fist pumped Cana in the air. Hibiki just laughed at his girlfriend's determination for a drink. "Defo not Mira... or Juvia... or Evergreen... Wait. I know, it was Lucy wasn't it?" Her boyfriend simply answered,  
"Bingo!" And she softly **giggled**. **_The world must have gone insane. _**Cana Alberona NEVER giggled in her 16 years of life in public. Only Hibiki knew that she wasn't always high-maintenance, but she could also be cute and girly with him. Cana was allowed to show more sides of herself, that is why she always got back with Hibiki, even after all the fights. She could never go with any other person. "So what drink are you buying me today Mr. Lates? Will it be a normal cocktail or a vodka and tonic?" asked Cana.  
"Well Mrs. Lates, it will be whatever you want it to be." Another thing that Cana **never **did in public was blush **(unless of course she is totally drunk) **, but it seemed that the sun had set east that day. The lovey-dovey couple headed to the bar in blissful happiness.

* * *

**Monday 5 am**

**Fairy Tail School**

Ever since Erza had met Gray, she had not received a single text, call, or message stating why he had been completely ignorant of her for the past two days. This had made Erza wake up extremely early to check her emails or if 'Iceboy' was online however, there was zero contact. This somehow made Erza feel extremely angry, and she badly wanted to use_ that stupid Gray _as her punch bag. _What is his problem? He made me waste time going to the cell phone store, going to jail and then getting me out! _Erza suddenly felt like she had lost some of her IQ. Why was she hanging out with a guy that made her life so stressful?

She paced her bedroom corridor with anxiety. Her mother said that her father was coming back from work that morning. She saw a room she had never seen before in her corridor. There was a Scarlet door. It was very tall and had intricate patterns on it. Erza stared in confused silence at it. After a few moments of thought, she turned the golden door knob. In the room, there was something which blew her mind.

She remembered the spectacle and wanted to go in that room again. How could she have missed that room for all her 15 years of life? Erza absentmindedly twirled a strand of hair, signing important documents for the government. The Scarlet haired teen was too distracted to see the **very **important document she signed. Later on, she would regret and then be pleased at her absent-mindedness. Erza was just about to get up when she heard a loud vibrating sort of sound. Had someone dared to leave their phone in the Student Council? Then, she realised with utter dismay that it was her phone. She checked the number displayed, and saw a photo of Gray's face: his messy, Raven hair; his prussian blue shirt from the other day; his flawless smile. _Hold on right there thoughts! I do not and will never think he is what you want me to think he is..._

_He's hot_

_What?_

_He's really really really..._

_Shut up you stupid brain! Has my IQ lowered so much that now I think this dumbass is... that?_

_Hot._

_Why did you have to finish the sentence you stupid brain!?_

_Well you thought it first..._

Erza was going through a phase of mental insanity **(again xD)**. Erza then realised she had wasted time and Gray had hung up. Should she call back? Erza gulped, touching the screen of her phone to check her logs. Erza then hovered her hand near the call button, when Gray started calling her again. Erza nearly had a heart attack! She dropped her new phone with a loud "Bang!" _Perfect. Just perfect. _Erza mentally hit herself on a brick wall. As well as ignoring Gray two times in a row, her phone's sim card had vanished into thin air, all memory which was stored lost. _How could I be so clumsy? _Gray would now think that she was an ungrateful person who scammed him. After searching for over 20 minutes, she gave up. She was tired and it had not been her fault anyway. _It was his_, repeated the Scarlet haired girl to herself firmly. If she did not believe that, she would feel guilt-ridden.

"Erza!" called out a familiar voice. It was Master Makarov.  
"Master! Did you want to tell me something?" questioned Erza with glee.  
"Did you sign all the documentation?" inquired the short Head Master of Fairy Tail.

"Yes Master. And Master... I'm sorry for skipping class last time," bowed Erza in apology. Makarov just laughed and walked away, while Erza was half bowing-half standing in confusion. Erza then wasted time by making sure every single room in the campus was immaculate. She entered the "shady" part of the school. There, she saw Ultear Milkovich. Even with all her bravado and courage, she could see evident fear in her eyes. Ultear was facing off against some guys which were from the rival school of Fairy Tail: Phantom Lord. They were cruel, violent students which won by playing dirty and being jerks. Even if Erza **detested **Ultear, those guys were **extremely **bad news. She would never wish harm on her enemies _unless, of course, I inflict the harm myself._

"Stop!" yelled the Student Council president in a resonating voice. All the guys heard her and slowly turned around. What they saw was a young, beautiful warrior. One of the people standing there was called Gajeel Redfox. He was very bad news. Apparently, he ate things that were as hard as steel, he was heartless and loved beating people for no good reason. No one knew the reason why Gajeel was full of such hatred and anger in the world **(Except me :D Troll face!)**.

While the boys were distracted, Ultear made a run for it. Now Erza was alone, fighting off some of the strongest men she had seen in her life. It was not that they were big, or had some overly big sized muscles. It was that their aura had the evil intent which made Erza's soul shiver. "So little girl, you want to play?" questioned the guy with long, Black, spiky hair. Erza didn't even flinch. She just took her fencing sword from her scabbard. It glinted in the sunlight, symbolising the hope of surviving this battle. Erza knew she was strong, but what was her limit? Could she be defeated by these 'demons'?

All of a sudden, a loud scream of a guy imitating Tarzan filled and exploded in all their ears. A salmon haired boy jumped and hit one of the lackeys right on the skull. Then, Natsu used him as a weapon and made a tornado. All Erza could do was stare at Natsu going wild, his eyes a' blaze with fire and his attacks getting more and more wild. He had seemed a bit idiotic before, but she was wrong. He seemed like a monster. The Devil. Erza could practically see the flames of Hell. Gajeel stood far away, staring at the crazy boy who was making a whirl wind (as he had moved a **_LONG_ **time ago from the chaos). He smirked and laughed a maniacal laugh, staring at his useless slaves getting beaten to a pulp. He had not had fun like that in years, even though his usual intention was to face off with the mighty Titania.

"Natsu!" screamed Erza. After beating the guys to a pulp, Natsu started torturing them more and more. "Stop! Gajeel isn't here!" Still, Natsu was not listening, even though Erza was pulling his arm with minimum strength. "I said stop." She said in a cold, menacing voice. Natsu instantly froze, scared of the Titania who he had just angered.  
"That scumbag! Hey! If you are here come and fight me!" roared Natsu. Subsequently, this caused him to gain a very severe head injury from Erza's punch.  
"Enough is enough! He is not here anymore and you are causing ruckus in the school," glared the Scarlet haired girl. Natsu just pouted in reply, wanting to hurt that bastard even more for trying to hurt his friend. Erza just briefly nodded her head before hearing the school bell. It was time for the first lesson, and it was time to introduce Natsu to others. Would she be willing to give up her first friend in ages to other ungrateful people? Erza walked and Natsu followed, a comfortable silence between them.

* * *

**8:00am**

**Gray's House**

Gray and Lyon were shovelling their food in their mouths. It was breakfast, and all they had was ice cream **(Has anyone of you eaten ice cream in the morning? - I haven't...) **so they ate it. They had two massive portions, followed with ice cold water. Why were the two brothers eating as if it was the last day before the world would end? The reason was... the school was selling cold ice lollies. This was the only time of year they sold them, and the two brothers **needed **to have a new supply before they all sold out. They both planned their strategies.

_I will beat Gray this year! I will take the car, jump over the fence, run to the stall, take them all and pay._ **(Honestly, this is a GREAT... no it's one of the most stupid plans I've heard of in my life, and I've heard tons of stupidity for a whole lifetime -.-).**

While Gray's plan was:

_I will kick Lyon's butt today! I will run to school, use my secret weapon and buy them all._ **(Wonder what the secret weapon is? D: Will it make him a total jerk, selfish and mean person? Muhuhaha of course! :D)**

Why are boys in this day and age discussing about refrigerated goods like it's the frickin market? **(and yes, when my mum sometimes goes to markets, she goes kinda hyper for all the things, but chooses carefully... Maybe a bit too carefully as she practically never buys a thing she wants xD. And my dad.. Don't even get me started O-O... He will make sure to bargain the price until it is at its cheapest... Yeah I have problems xD) **It was because they sold them for only 5 Quarter Jewels **(Total cheapskates O-O) **and Gray and Lyon were nearly in the red because they could and would not use Ul's will, so they had to pay for everything that they had with part time jobs. Gray seemed rich to all the girls, but he was slowly getting poorer, and being nice by buying Erza a phone had made him even more broke than he was before.

_Speaking of Erza... _He thought to himself, _why isn't she fucking picking up my calls that stupid bitch? I buy her a phone and she doesn't even use it. _And Gray just kept ranting on and on. He realised that Lyon had finished his breakfast and was racing in Gray's car. _Oh Hell no. _Thought Gray before leaving the house through the back exit, using shortcuts in that vary shady place. Apparently, that's where drug dealers were, so Gray avoided the place most times like the plague, but this time it was life and death. If he won, he would keep all of them, never sharing with his brother.

Gray reached the water fountain he was looking for, just across the street. Suddenly, wet droplets of water cascaded the sky. It was raining. "Drip, drop," Said a small voice in the distance. As Gray reached closer to the fountain, he saw a Bluenette. "Drip, drop," She kept on repeating to herself. Gray hated rain. It made him feel sad, as if the world was against him. Out loud, he muttered, "So depressing." The Bluenette stopped speaking and stared at the evil man which dared diss her rain! She stood up and approached him, "Rain is not..." She stopped in her tracks. There in front of her was the most beautiful existence in the whole world. Juvia's heart was stuck by Cupid's arrow.

The rain suddenly stopped and Gray beamed, his smile radiating warmth. Juvia was now at the drunk in love stage. She fainted. Gray stared in shock at her. After a few moments, he tried rousing her from her unconsciousness. He really had no time for this. It was supposed to be eating his ice lolly in happiness and laughing at Lyon. There, he saw Lyon in his car. Gray had a brilliant thought. "Help! Help! Someone's fainted!" yelled Gray. The voice reached Lyon, and he rushed over to see what was wrong. Cupid had wasted another arrow. Lyon fell madly in love with the girl in front of him, lying on the floor next to Gray. He roughly pushed Gray away and carried her on his back, taking her to his car. She had the Phantom Lord uniform, so he would drive her there.** (What a nice guy :D)**

Gray's plan had worked effectively. Now, he needed to carry his 'secret weapon'. It weighed 8 pounds** (around 50 kg?)** and Gray could NOT break it. It was really fragile. Gray put it at Lyon's usual parking spot, glad he wasted all that effort. Lazily, he walked up to the stall and bought all the ice lollies. Guess he had won again this year. He smirked.

* * *

**7:00 am**

**Fairy Tail**

"Good morning class. This is Natsu Dragneel, and he will be your new classmate. Natsu, please introduce yourself," droned on Aquarius, clearly bored and not in the mood. Apparently, her boyfriend had wanted a 'break' with her, so she was in an even more aggravated mood than usual.

"My name is Natsu Dragneel and I'm an orphan. My father suddenly disappeared ages ago, so I live on my own. Actually no! I live with Happy. He is funny. Sure he only eats fish and doesn't talk much, but he is better company than any human." The class stayed in silence. Before anyone spoke, Erza thought about how open and honest he was, and how he had _never told me about his personal life which was that deep! _Erza felt enraged. Now two people in the class were aggravated.

"So... Who is Happy?" asked a Bluenette in a confused tone. This particular Bluenette was called Levi. She was probably the second smartest pupil in all of Fairy Tail. Natsu simply answered, "Dummy! He's my cat." Many in that room that day gave sighs of relief. They thought that maybe Natsu kept a new serial killer which ate fish and was creepy, never talking to anyone during his sane life. Natsu excused himself and ran to sit next to Erza at the back. Erza smiled at this as everyone thought of him as funny and likeable straight away **(but a bit of a weirdo :D) **but he chose to sit with Erza who was **not **the fun and games type. She felt like she had beaten a whole army, because Natsu was her friend.

"Announcement! Announcement!" said the robotic voice behind the speaker. "All pupils please go to the main hall in 10 minutes. A very important assembly will occur." Erza and Natsu's ears picked up. Erza had told Natsu that the school had never had such a thing like an assembly, so it was an extremely rare occurrence. Aquarius ordered the students to line up in their rank.

**_Before I continue, let me just explain rank order:_**

**_Rank order is when students are put in order because of their abilities (does not necessarily have to be studying). The top student of the class stands in front, while the rest follow. Basically, if you achieve good academic scores etc. you get to be in the front row. And you get some prizes like computers, your own cinema etc. However, 99.9% of the students are rich, meaning they already have over ten of all the stupid things they could give to the poor._**

Everyone was surprised when Natsu was put in front of Levi, right behind Erza. How could a guy who only had food on his mind be so clever? Thought Erza. Then again, it was not necessarily academics. Something that the Fairy Tail students are all proud of was combat. As long as you were good in combat, you were considered to be good at anything in Fairy Tail. They made their way to the hall.

Inside, there was a massive screen, and the AV techies were checking everything and making notes. _What's going on? _Natsu voiced her thoughts in a much louder voice," Oi Erza, what's happening?" Erza shrugged, unsure how to answer. The school always told her about special events like this. They did not even bother to inform her this time. Erza felt a slight pang of delusion and isolation, but Natsu kept on talking about irrelevant things which made her mood happier.

"Natsu?"  
"Mmm?" mumbled Natsu with a whole pile of food in his mouth. He swallowed it all in one go.  
"What were you doing yesterday? I saw you running with someone?" Erza was curious about that event. Natsu's Salmon hair was instantly recognisable, therefore when she saw him being dragged off, she felt curious.  
"Err... No one... I mean nothing! I was just... talking to Happy!" He beamed in satisfaction at his obvious lie. Natsu was crazy, but he certainly had better things to do than talk to his cat. She badly needed to find out. Nothing happened for one hour and thirty minutes when finally...

* * *

**8:30 am**

**Saint Hope's Institute (Gray's School :D, sorry that I never gave it a name before... I just had no idea what to call it xD)**

Gray was sitting in his window seat, annoyed that Erza was completely ignoring his phone calls. _Why the fuck do I care so much? _He kept on asking himself while girls kept on flocking him like exotic birds which put on wayyyyy too much makeup. One even made herself look like a paradise bird, Gray thought. But no! Guys are so stupid and insensitive sometimes, because it was supposed to look tres chic and epic **(clearly failed to impress Gray though xD)**. Anyways, Gray was just fed up.

"Erm... Please excuse me. Juvia wants to see Gray-sama." Gray turned to the girls, giving them a cold, irritated glare. Then, he noticed Juvia. Why was she there? She was a student of Phantom Lord. "Ah! It's... you. Thanks for helping me back then." Gray remembered that he never asked her name and just used her for his plan. _Oh well, I can be nice to her since she helped me defeat Lyon. _"It's Juvia. Gray-sama, thank you so much for saving me! You even held me on your shoulders, and when I was losing my breath, you gave me the breath of life. You were so heroic and amazing and..." all her praise had been drowned out by all the wild girls. Juvia just briefly glared at them and continued on, but someone dragged her back to her school. The thing was, there was a huge misunderstanding. Gray had done nothing like that, which meant that Lyon had. He sighed at his misfortune. Just because he had a eight pack, was always mean to girls and just used them as objects, they all swooned over him. He wasn't even trying to be cocky, it was true. One reason Lucy was still his friend was that she was not in love with him, which made him always relieved at the fact.

Then, the loud speaker announced, "Assembly in the main hall now." and that was it.

Everyone scrambled out of their seats in anticipation. Inside the hall were several pieces of equipment and a large screen. What was happening?

* * *

**9:00 am**

**Fairy Tail**

"Erza Scarlet, please stand up and come on the stage." Erza outwardly showed confidence, but she felt nervous and was filled with terror. This assembly couldn't be all about her... could it?

...

Gray saw the Scarlet maiden which had not picked up his calls for days. Why was she on the big screen? Did it somehow involve her?

...

"Wait!" screamed Levi as soon as Erza reached the stage. Levi blushed at all the attention she was getting, but ran to Erza to give her something.

...

A Bluenette had rushed to Erza to give her something. On the screen, she said, "You told me you lost your sim card because you were startled and dropped it, consequently losing it. Here, I found it for you," smiled the bluenette warmly. _So that's why she didn't pick up my call._

...

Erza gratefully took the phone and nodded as if to say thank you. She walked to the centre stage were was waiting for her. "This may seem all very sudden to you, but Miss. Scarlet here next to me agreed that it would be a good idea." _What the heck is he talking about? I didn't agree to anything?  
_" We have decided that Fairy Tail, Phantom Lord and Saint Hope's Institute will all join together to become one school. This means that from now on we will all be together, welcome to Fairy Tail!" Everyone sat in shocked silence in all three schools.

When did Erza agree to any of this? Then, she remembered how this morning she just signed her signature on every piece of paper without even reading it... Such a stupid decision!

"Furthermore, there will be a new Student Council from each school. Representatives: Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tail, Natsu Dragneel from Fairy Tail, Gray Fullbuster from Saint Hope, Lucy Heartfilia from Saint Hope, Gajeel Redfox from Phantom Lord, Juvia Lockser from Phantom Lord." As he said those names, their faces of where also shown on camera to all three schools, all looking extremely shocked. Erza had let out a gasp when she had heard Gray's name. Lucy squealed when she heard Natsu's name and Gajeel just cackled. Juvia felt her heart explode when she heard Gray's name. Suddenly, the whole room went mental, so school had to be suspended for a period of time.

* * *

**10:55 am**

**Erza's House**

Erza went directly home, confused and appalled that she had caused all that chaos. At least she still got to be the Student Council president. **( Oh no she won't ;p). **Erza went on the third floor of her house and walked straight into the Scarlet door. It was adorned with all her mother's clothes from acting. Her favourite one looked like armour. With armour, anyone could feel safe and at peace. It was a dress which was flowing and had wings, and it matched her 200+ fencing swords. She stared at herself in the mirror.

For some reason, she only saw a scared girl trying to act tough. She looked strong, but she knew that she was extremely weak. Then, an apparition came to her. She saw herself as a child after she had lost her eye. She had been lost, confused and depressed. What she was seeing was not what was on the mirror, but through the mirror. Every secret in her heart was about to pour out, but she needed to keep them in. Erza broke down and cried until her eyes were sore and red.

She thought that her life had finally gotten better. Maybe it had, maybe it hadn't. But no matter how she tried to escape reality, her past still lingered...

...

Erza gleefully put the sim card in her phone, gaining back all the information that she required.

_Titania: Hey..._

_Iceboy: Hi_

_Titania: Wow I'm shocked O-O You didn't seem rude in the first 5 seconds, congratz!_

_Iceboy: And congratz on using abbreviation, sarcasm and an emoticon in your second sentence *slow clap*_

_Titania: Haha, very funny._

_Iceboy: So... why didn't you pick up my calls?_

_Titania: Of course I didn't pick up your calls! I do not like you in any way and I have a busy life, I don't have time to talk to a jackass like you!_

Of course, Erza denied the truth to make her seem 'in control'.

_Iceboy: Or... you just lost your sim card._

_Titania: H...H..How?_

_Iceboy: Live broadcast might ring a bell? Nice legs by the way_

_Titania: How dare you comment about my appearance! I'll make sure from this point on to wear knee high socks and a VERY long skirt_

_Iceboy: And I thought you turned normal for once_

_Titania: What?_

He turned off the chat before she could rant. She planned on talking to him soon, or he would never learn his lesson. What Erza didn't know was that she was grinning like a FOOL.

Gray was also grinning in satisfaction at having a conversation with the terrifying Titania.

* * *

**Lucy's Home**

Lucy was making an article about the new gossip. Was it a joke? Nobody knew yet, but it seemed pretty official. Lucy was texting, writing, typing, reading, eating etc while feeling euphoric. Whatever was going to happen, she would be able to see Natsu. She didn't think she was in love with him. _Of course I'm not in love with a stranger, that would be pushing the boundaries. _But she felt like she could get along with him if they became friends..._and maybe a bit_ more...**(Best friends? :D Haha xD Just joking with cha peeps :p Of course I mean Bf and Gf xD)**

Lucy could not believe her luck. She had to sincerely thank Erza Scarlet for giving her so many opportunities. Would there be a new uniform? She wondered while multitasking nonstop. She left her house after a few hours of exhausting paper work. She went to the nearby bakery to get a baguette. It reminded her of the first time she met Natsu... Why was she still thinking about Natsu?

Just as she reached the bakery, a man grabbed her Gucci bag and ran with it. Before she could scream "Thief!" A Salmon haired guy was chasing after him at full speed. He tackled the man and started beating him up. Lucy's heart beat faster. Could it really be him? She ran with all her might. There in his demonic state was Natsu.  
It saw Natsu.  
As he turned around, their eyes locked on each other. A few seconds passed before Natsu uttered a word, "Luce! You should be more careful, don't let strangers rob you!" He grinned at her before taking the bag from the man he had crippled **(I honestly feel more sorry for the guy who got beaten up :( Natsu can get pretty scary xD) **, grabbed her arm and ran. A police officer was chasing the pair and they both giggled until they finally escaped the law. **(Tut tut, I have already made the other two criminals, plus Cana, and now I'm making everyone lawless when I want to be a lawyer in the future O-O...).**

Natsu realised that he was still holding her arm and let go off it. They stood in awkward silence. "So... I heard that I will be joining your school." Natsu simply nodded. They were both feeling nervous until Natsu suddenly disappeared. All of a sudden, warm hands covered her eyes. "Guess who's there," said Natsu. Lucy wanted the joke to last longer, so she said, "Mmm... Mira?"

"Who's Mira?"  
"A friend!" giggled Lucy.  
"What about... Bisca? Or maybe Alzack?"  
"Who the hell are those people?" questioned the mystery person in a confused tone** (Yeah, what a GREAT mystery xD)**  
"Ok fine, you're Natsu!" She turned around and stuck her tongue out. He howled with laughter at how stupid the situation was.  
"So, want a cup of tea Natsu?" asked Lucy.  
"Nope, a cup of salsa will be fine thanks Luce," and he entwined his arm around hers, walking like a soldier. Lucy wanted to ask why salsa, but she stopped herself and just walked with the guy who could maybe unlock **(geddit? Keys, stellar keys etc? ;D Nope? Ok sorry :( Guess I'm really not going to try being a comedian xD) **her heart.

* * *

**Finally done! It's already 23 pm and I've been writing since 6 pm. I am beat! And it's not even Friday, so be happy that I wrote this :p! Sorry if it wasn't funny at all :( I tried but probably failed. I assume this is one of my longer chapters, but I have absolutely no clue xD. Sorry for spelling mistakes etc. It's all the computer O-O... And hope you all have a great day :D!**


	6. The Leader and The Shopaholic

Be my Raven, and I'll b your Scarlet

**A/N: Heya people! :D Hope you like the story so far. It's 23:07 and I just felt like writing xD. This chapter will probably be shorter than the rest, but I'll try to make it as entertaining as possible :D. I am so boiling hot! xD( And no, not in the looks way, I'm miles away from that O-O) It feels like it's frickin Africa in the winter here!( In Africa it's hotter in the winter than in the summer, and Ik cause my grandma lives there :p) And I'm pretty sensitive to the heat, so it really doesn't help. Probably going to have swearing in this chapter and new friendships will be made :D. Review if you want and hope that you adore Grayza even more :p. BTW: The whole title won't show up cause it's too long, so I'll just write the real title here :).**

**DISCLAIMER: Defo don't own Fairy Tail, just the story and the story line :p**

**Chapter VI: The Leader, The Hottest, The Shopaholic and The Crazy**

**2 Days later from Chapter V**

**7:00 am**

**School**

Erza was in the fencing room. Her father had not been able to return because he had to conclude a business deal which was supposed to have ended months ago. School had started later than usual because of the turmoil that had occurred a few days ago. Erza felt a cocktail of emotions. _Irritated, angry, confused, sad, happy _for thousands of different reasons. The thing that had surprised her the most was seeing the new Student Council. She had researched many things about them. This was her research findings:

Gray Fullbuster: A total jackass which deserved no respect but was extremely popular and was _apparently_ smart. _Yeah right! _Scoffed Erza in indignation. There was no way a jerk like him could have even a single brain cell. He was talented in ice sculpting and had received numerous awards for each of his pieces. Apparently, they were international treasures, and even the most influential person in Magnolia bought some of his works. He usually turned up late in class and was never bothered to do anything, but he could put up a very good fight. He had also been scouted as a model for 'Seventeen Magazine'. There were so many things that he did, but some on the internet got blocked or were nonexistent. Erza pondered about the stuff that even the computer did not want her to know.

Next was the one who she thought she saw with Natsu-

Lucy Heartfilia: Daughter of one of the most economically powerful business men in the whole world. She does not like to talk about her family, but she lost her mother at a very young age. She doesn't have any siblings and her hobbies include reading, writing and shopping. The shopping part was very important- if there was something that she liked, she would make sure to get it no matter what. Lucy was also an A* Gossip Girl, always knowing the latest news and new fashion crazes a season before. She was also considered pretty popular and she got around 300 love letters every day. _Poor girl, having to suffer always because of her looks_. **(I honestly feel more sorry for Erza because she never got a love letter as she would murder whoever gave her one XD)**

Next was the craziest person she had ever met in her life:

Natsu Dragneel: He is an orphan and has been living on his own since he was 7. He has a cat Happy and he adores food. His favourite food has to be spicy things. He can wolf down a 6 course meal in less than 10 seconds. Apparently, he is a very strong fighter and has a bad temper. That's all Erza found out about him. There was not much on the internet, and other resources were pretty useless.

Next sentence was the guy who had nearly beaten up Ultear **(how Erza wished she hadn't interfered then)**:

Gajeel Redfox: He was a delinquent and bad tempered. He loves having fights and is a sadist. Apparently, he has a secret relationship with someone, _which means, he has a weakness, _contemplated Erza. His father ran away years ago for unknown reasons and he likes wearing steel jewellery. She couldn't find much about Gajeel either, but Erza knew that he was bad news and she should stay away from him as much as possible **(although that, my friends, will be very hard :D)**

And finally the strangest of them all:

Juvia Lockser: She is a close friend of Lucy. She falls in and out of love easily. Ever since she was a child, she thought that no one loved her except rain. She always makes little puppets with cloth and wants to be a housewife. She won the swimming championships and could maybe go to the Olympics. She has no siblings and likes to talk in third person (except when she is emotional).

Those were all the new candidates. Could Erza manage to keep her sanity and instigate peace with all these crazy people? **(Of course not :D)**

Her phone rang, and she heard 'Independent Women' by Destiny's Child. The song suited her as she needed no help from men, including her dad who was just as smitten with her as her mum.

"Hello?"  
"Where the hell are you?" replied a rough voice from the other line.  
"For your information, I'm in the Student Council room of Fairy Tail. Why do you ask Mr. Fullbuster?"  
"I'm in the school. With the rest," Gray answered clearly irritated. There was silence for a few moments before she replied,  
"...What?"  
"You heard me. We are all here waiting for Mr. Makarov. Our schools have been relocated here, and it will take a couple of days to move each building in Fairy Tail's campus. While everyone else is staying home today, we had to get woken up fucking early in the morning just because we are in this new Student Council. Why the fuck did you agree to all this? Wanted to be with me so baldy?" There was an evident smirk in the Raven haired boy's voice, and the Scarlet haired girl started fuming before she replied,  
"Sadly, I have to inform you that you had no part in my decision as I was not paying attention while I signed the document. In no way or shape do I want to see you face," replied Erza bitterly.

Just then, she heard a loud and happy laugh. But it wasn't just from the sound on her phone, it was coming from somewhere very close. Erza sprinted to the balcony, and there she saw Raven, messy hair blowing in the wind, along with Blonde, Blue and Black **(just realized they are all starting with a B :D... How exactly is this story going to work? R,S,S,B,(Raven, Scarlet, Salmon and Blonde. Too many colours xD...)**. _Oh. My. Gosh. _Anyone there, seeing two people on the phone looking intently with passion at each other's eyes while the female was on a balcony may have thought that it was a scene from Romeo and Juliet **(I always imagined Romeo with dark hair and Juliet with red hair for some reason xD)**. What was really happening was a deadly stare off with two competitive people, and both of them were not prepared to back out.

"...ray... wha...stare.. at?" asked the blonde next to him, but he just ignored her. From Erza's point of view, she thought that the girl who was in fact Lucy said, "Gray, what are you staring at?" Mr. Makarov then stepped outside meeting the new Council, ruining their "passionate" glares. Without glancing back, he ordered to Erza," Find Natsu and bring him to my office immediately." Erza's eyes grew wider for a second, and then they returned back to normal and ran to find Natsu._ Master Makarov always had a good sixth sense, _thought Erza. Of course, she found Natsu in the shady part of the school feeding Happy. Without a word, she grabbed his arm and force-dragged him to the Head Master's office.

* * *

**Head Master's Office**

They made their way to the Head Master's office, following the short man who had practically founded the whole school. Gray had taken off his shirt because even though it was windy, he just felt hot. He looked at his surroundings with disinterest, trying to see if he could spot the Scarlet haired girl. He was walking with his hands in his pockets, not bothered the least about the girls practically _drooling _all over him. Lucy was staring at the school with great interest while looking totally mind boggled. _What's so fucking interesting about some old building? _Gray kept on wanting to ask his best friend, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings, so he just stayed quiet. He was evidently bored, but Juvia still kept on staring daggers on his back with 'love'. However, if she thought he noticed, she was sadly mistaken.

After walking for an_ eternity, **(Thought Gray :D) **_they finally arrived at the closed automatic doors which were ten times their heights. He saw Erza in the distance dragging a Salmon haired boy. This somehow irked him very much. He turned to Lucy to talk to her, but her eyes seemed to be locked on the pair coming their way. Then he saw that the Salmon haired boy had been from that time when he went to jail with Erza. _Her secret boyfriend? _Gray thought with glee. He was happy to see that his friend was at least doing well in love, although her face didn't show that much joy. Probably 'cause the two were holding hands. Gray's thoughts kept on spiralling round and round about Erza holding that guy's hand. Lucy was having the exact same thoughts.

"Sorry Master, Natsu was feeding Happy and he kept on getting distracted," bowed Erza apologetically. The Salmon haired boy just slapped her on the back and said in a loud voice," Old man! How are you?" A lighting of something passed through Gray's brain. He thought he recognised this guy from somewhere, but where exactly? Gray contemplated while Erza, who was wearing a steel gauntlet, hit Natsu on the head. Lucy exhaled a sigh of relief, and Gray found himself doing the same, but why? Because, could she love that guy if she had just hit him with so much force? _Nah._

The doors opened and they all took seats on the chairs provided in front of the Head Master's desk.

"As you all know, Fairy Tail will now join with Phantom Lord and Saint Hopes'. You 6 will be the Student Council, and you will have to organise our next event, which will occur in only two months." There was an abrupt pause from Makarov. All of a sudden, he said, "Bah!" before jumping off his seat and banging on a wall. A secret door opened, and in a few seconds it started doing a countdown while closing. Mr. Makarov vanished. "Hurry! The old man will get away!" shouted Gray, and everyone taking his lead, sprinted to the door before it closed on them.

Inside, there was a massive stash of beer and magazines. All the magazines included young swim suit models. The Head Master of Fairy Tail was drinking from a bottle while looking at a picture of Mirajane Strauss wearing a striped blue bikini. "Ah, she's so cute!" blushed the probably drunk Makarov. All the students of the Student Council stayed in silence. Then, Erza shook her head and the Salmon haired guy seemed more reserved to go into the room. Suddenly, memories of his past entered Gray's mind and he remembered a specific memory. A specific person. A specific name.

That name was Natsu Dragneel.

* * *

**7:30am**

**Club Cintara**

Cana and Hibiki were both having a vodka and tonic. They had spent most of the night watching lame variety shows at his house and snacking, so now Gildarts would probably be mad and overprotective about her _again. _It's not like she slept with the guy, so why was her father always disapproving their relationship? If he thought she was still his little girl who loved pink and was an angel, well he was extremely wrong. Cana was on her third drink when Hibiki said, "Babe, so are you going to tell me what happened in the WC?" Cana had an intake of air before shrinking herself away from him. She didn't think she was ready to tell him. _Not now. _He put his arm around her and embraced her into a hug.

They stayed in that position for a few seconds before he kissed her square on the forehead. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he whispered softly. Cana looked at the handsome face of her boyfriend. She _had _to tell him there and then. She couldn't hide it forever. Hibiki had every right to know. After all, he was involved in the _incident._

"Hibiki..." she tried, but failed. They were staring at each other with longing and understanding. Hibiki would understand if she didn't tell him then, but this was something she really had to do. She opened her mouth again, but soft lips pressed on them. Hibiki's lips. He was kissing her. This wasn't one of their usual, passionate kisses after getting in a fight or just because they were in the mood, this was one of those tender, sweet kisses. The ones which made her pulse quicken and her heart explode. Hibiki's kiss was so gentle that is made Cana crave for even more, but he just kept on kissing her tenderly. After they broke away, Cana finally whispered, "He's back." Before Hibiki could say "who?", she replied "Natsu's back."

"Wh...WHAT?" **(Dun dun DUUUN! Why is Natsu so important D:?)**

* * *

"It's you... Natsu?" screamed Gray with shock on his face. Natsu stared back, his shock apparent on his face too. Then Lucy remembered that Cana had mentioned something about Gray while talking to Natsu. _Who is Natsu? _Lucy thought with sadness. She felt so out of place because everyone knew everyone, but she barely knew anyone. Something seemed to spark in Natsu's mind.

"You are... the stripper!"

"Flame brain!"

"Ice princess!"

"Hot head!" And so on.

Lucy stared at the two boys fighting and beating the living daylights out of each other. _What are they to each other?_ And they just kept on fighting and fighting before Erza shouted, "Stop!" The two boys stopped immediately. Even as Lucy thought this, they were glaring at each other as if they would rip each other's heads off. To Lucy's surprise, Mr. Makarov just laughed at the ridiculous pair.

"Listen up! Split into teams of three to get to know or bond with each other. Whoever's next to you will be the person you go with. Now leave me in peace!" ordered Mr. Makarov in a slurred voice while looking lovingly at another picture of Mirajane. _Mira is my close friend, should I tell her about this? _thought Lucy. Even after Mira went into the news and modelling industry, Lucy had only been scared for her friend. Then she remembered that when she had told Mira that she was scared, she had just laughed at her and said that it was nice being acknowledged by people that she was pretty and she would try her hardest to make others smile. Lucy felt so much more inferior to Mira, so she usually tried to be a little like her mentor by posing, but sometimes it felt totally not like her.

Natsu was standing next to Gray. _Lucky Gray. _Thought Lucy before she could stop the thought from escaping. Why did she keep on thinking about other people's relationships? She had to get her head straight and stop thinking so much about Natsu. The sound of his name in her head made her stomach do a small somersault. _Only a small one, _she provoked herself further. She was starting to develop feelings which she so badly didn't want at the moment. Their meeting at the bakery had been just perfect and they had talked a lot, but after that happy encounter she had faced a massive problem. It was gnawing at Lucy's heart. The Blonde felt in pain just thinking about the event, so closed her eyes tightly shut to make the memory go away.

"Lucy?" called out a severe, strong voice very close to Lucy. She quickly opened her eyes, and saw the beautiful Scarlet haired girl which she had heard so many rumours about. Everyone said that she was a demon, but in that moment, she seemed like an angel. She was smiling sweetly and she had actually remembered her name. "Erza..right?" smiled Lucy too. "That's right," replied Erza. The two boys were at it again, and Erza just gave them a final death glare which could have sent anyone straight to hell, before leaving the room. Lucy followed her new partner. This was going to be fun. _Spending the whole day with Erza Scarlet. Eek! My friends will so hate me._

Juvia had been in the background all this time, waiting for Gray to notice her, but he never did. She was stuck with Gajeel. Sure, they were good friends, but Juvia wanted to be with her loved one! How unfair and cruel the world was...

"So where should we go?" Questioned Erza in a calm tone. There was only ever one place where you could go with Lucy...  
"Shopping!" squealed Lucy before grabbing Erza's arm and pulling her to her pink Mercedes. They entered and Lucy put at full volume 'Call me Maybe'.  
"Could we please not hear this song?" asked Erza while Lucy was carefully driving. Erza had the impression that the Blonde would speed drive, but she was completely wrong.  
"But why?" asked Lucy in a shocked voice. It was one of her favourite songs, and probably every person in the world knew the lyrics.  
"It just... irritates me. What's the point of getting his number when you barely even know him?" replied Erza in a bitter tone. Lucy didn't want to be glared at by the Titania, she wanted to be friends with her! So she turned down the volume. It suited both of them..._Well me a bit more me than her..._ Erza watched the scenery pass by while Lucy got over excited about her trip to the mall. It had been _ages _since she went to the mall! **(Exactly 15 hours ago :D)**

As soon as they found a parking spot, Lucy zoomed inside the closest clothes shop. "What would you like Erza? I'll buy anything you want!" smiled Lucy shyly. Before Erza could protest, she said,  
"My treat." Erza hadn't bought new clothes in months because she never really needed to go out much before. "Er...That one?" pointed the Titania uncertainly. It was a Scarlet shirt and had written on it," L.Y.L.-Live Your Life". It was absolutely gorgeous with a couple of sequins and a belt to go with it. Lucy and Erza instantly got on with both their fashion genes being high class.

After an exhausting 2 hours, they sat on a bench inside the mall. "Lucy," said Erza. Her tone surprised Lucy after they had had so much fun. They were eating a burger and Lucy had thought she gained a new friend, but now she thought that maybe Erza was too embarrassed to be seen with her. "I know, I know, I'm so sorry. It's just that I love shopping and you seem really cool to hang out with so I got all hyper and just bought mounds of stuff and didn't even check if you like it and you would rather be with Gray and I just over indulge myself and I'm sorry." Erza was surprised that Lucy could say all that without even one breath. She giggled lightly, and the other soon followed, remembering that she shouldn't talk so fast.  
"No, I really had fun today... Thank you," smiled Erza. A genuine, happy smile. Lucy felt so happy, like she just had a new sister. "What I wanted to ask was why you were with Natsu the other day. And why would I go with Gray? There's nothing going on between me and him." Erza said the last part just a bit too fast, and Lucy noticed. She felt relief one second, then shock the next. How could she say that Natsu was a total stranger to her?

So she just said the first thing that came to her mind after seeing Natsu eat the other day.

"All boys are pigs. That's how." That totally explained nothing but Lucy and Erza laughed their hearts out at the comment. It was true that the boys in their lives were pigs. One swore and was angry most of the time, and the other was a WWE eating champion. This is how Erza and Lucy's friendship started.

* * *

**Cinema: In the Mall**

There was this new movie called 'Fire Vs Ice: 2 of the 4 Elements'. After a lot of swearing, pushing and shoving, they finally compromised on watching the movie. They were now at the last battle scene, and so far both sides were not exactly winning, but not losing either. Natsu was shouting with all his might for team Fire, while Gray did the opposite. Thoughts kept on popping up in Natsu's head, _Win you stupid jerk! Cana and Gray.. who's next? Past. Bad memories. Need to run again. Pain. The stupid pain. _Natsu's eyes kept on begging for tears to flow out of them, but it would never happen without his consent. So many people from the past were coming back, and if _she _was coming too, he didn't think he could cope with it...

**Finished finally! :D. It's already 02:30 O-O At least it took less than chapter 5 :D. Chapter 5 was honestly that long just because it is my fav number xD Need to check now for spelling mistakes etc. it's all in your head O-O... Joking xD Soz if you don't like it or maybe it was too fast :( I'm just too sleepy xD**


	7. Student Council Chaos

Be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**Heyo peeps! :D Long time no see ;) It seems that I _might _have a busy life after all... or I'm just lazy xD I'm sorry and I hope you all forgive me :) Just spent 2 hours doing nothing before finally coming up with something productive to do :D. I'll try to update quicker. As the title says, chaos will occur :D. I think there will be strong language from the boys and I will try to make it at least 2000 words ;D. Hope you enjoy! :D**

**DISCLAIMER: Don't own Fairy Tail :( (Btw what is the point of a disclaimer-O)**

**Chapter VII: Student Council Chaos**

**Cinema**

Natsu and Gray were impatiently waiting for the battle scene to have its grand finale. They held their breaths as they made mantras in their heads for their favourite team to win. It had been a very close battle, but only one person could win, and_ 'fire head'/'stripper' is going down!_ The tense moment sent both of the two teens on edge. Their chosen samurai** HAD** to win. It showed just who was stronger out of the two, Natsu or Gray. As the two samurais made an attack for their opponent, a White haired goddess took form from a beautiful pond flower and stopped the two quarrelling sides. Gray gasped and Natsu visibly trembled. This week had not been good at all. Everything from _9 YEARS AGO_ was coming back, taunting him, haunting him, and making him go insane**(and as much as he is insane now, this is the bad insane I'm talking about, not the cute Natsu insane :D).**

Natsu had to get out of there fast. _Run. Sprint. Just don't stay here anymore. You can't. Leave._ So Natsu followed his own instructions. He dashed out of the place like Usain Bolt. Gray mildly guessed this was going to happen, and no matter how much he hated him, he knew that he had to be there for him. After all, he secretly thought of Natsu as his best mate and no one could change that, not even himself. If his buddy was in trouble, he would help him like he always did. After all,_ I still owe that fucking bastard a few favours_, smiled Gray ruefully before running off to chase after Natsu.  
The girls were laughing their heads off until they saw a flash of Salmon hair run past them. It was inevitably Natsu. When Lucy saw Natsu's face, she knew something was immediately wrong. She had to help him. After all, he was her 2nd male friend and she grew to like him. _A LOT_.** Before I continue this chapter, Lucy, our favourite blonde, will tell us all about why she only has 2 MALE friends, even though she is hella popular.**

_Let's begin when I was little and because I was an extremely cute kid and everybody fell head over heels for me**(or whatever she thought in her little brain of hers :D)** boys would always approach me. I always wanted to try being nice, but some boys were like sooo immature and had no manners, so I acted shy around them. After I told Gray that the guys bothered me, he thought I was completely scared of ALL guys and then fricking ruined my life by making sure that I had NO CONTACT with any guy other than him, my bestest friend and even after I grew older and said I was fine he never ever listened to me! I mean, do I really need to go Taylor Swift on him and break my friendship with him? At least he lets me talk to Natsu._

**Thank you Lucy for being as talkative as always :D Back to the story.**

Lucy had never seen so much pain in someone's eyes after seeing Gray's when he lost Ul, but this was something worse. She just had to follow them, so she jumped and ran as if her life depended on it. Erza sat deeply amused by all this. Why was everyone chasing everyone? And what was wrong with her friend Natsu? Ever since she was young, this Scarlet haired girl had always wanted to be either a detective or spy, and now that her friends were all bonding together and all somehow knew each other, she felt kinda jealous of how close they all were, so it was her **DUTY** to follow them. As she ran, she caught a glimpse of Gray's Raven hair zooming away past her and Lucy.

Even though she mildly admitted it, Erza knew that these people were her friends. The word sounded strange in her head. After all, a few days ago all she did was mock and cringe at the word. Now she savoured it like a new cheesecake**(and we all know how much she loves her cheesecakes :D)** and the feeling of being close to others made her happy. Maybe it wasn't so bad trusting others. Maybe this time round she could make real friends which are true to her**[spoiler alert :D What is her past?:o]**? She would later regret what she said that day.

**Commentator: This is the race called 'Catch Natsu if you can!' The contestants are: Natsu, Lucy, Gray and Erza! Who will win? Let's find out! Natsu speeds away and Gray closely follows. Oh! Now the next competitor is in sight! Lucy is now on her feet and running, followed by the curious and extremely worried Erza Scarlet with the Scarlet hair! Natsu's barged inside the 'gentlemen's room'( cough, cough, no offence, but guys these days aren't all gentlemen... sadly :'( ) and it's a NO-GO ZONE for the ladies. Bad luck! Ohh, what's happening!? Erza is going straight for the door! Lucy grabs hold of her and tries to drag her back while furiously blushing, but Erza takes no notice and glares at her friend, which immediately sends the order of "let go" which is followed, before trying to go in again.**

_I need to stop Erza, but how? There's that rumour... will it really work? It's worth a try..._

**Commentator: What's happening now? Lucy is pointing in a random direction and screaming, "There's a half price sale for all the cheesecakes you can buy!" Good move, very good move. This sends our favourite Titania rushing in some unknown direction, and the Gossip Girl follows suit, exasperated but needing to take care of her new friend and knowing that only men could go in that room if she had guts... But it would be WAY embarrassing. _Unless... Yes! Time for shopping again for me and Erza_. What was the devious Gossip girl scheming? Her plans will unfold later on. Meanwhile, Gray hears crying from a toilet cubicle. It sounds strained and held back. Gray instantly knows that it's Natsu. _What is his fucking problem? Everyone knows it wasn't his fucking fault and if he would just stop with this bullshit then he could have some closure._ Even as Gray thought this, he wasn't sure that Natsu would ever get closure.**

"Oi Natsu, can I come in? It's okay to cry in front of me ya know," said Gray softly while trying to open the cubicle door.  
"No! Don't..." replied Natsu with a voice filled with so much anguish and pain, that it broke Gray's usually ice cold heart into two. He had to help him, even if he was being a pain in the ass.  
"Stop moping already and get a hold of yourself and stop with all this bull!" screamed Gray before grabbing the top part of the cubicle door and swinging it to the other side to find Natsu's face streaked with silent tears while sitting on the closed toilet seat. Sobs were blocked in Natsu's throat, and he really didn't need a lecture about _'being a man' or not being 'tough enough' from this douche_.  
"FOR GOODNESS SAKE LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE! I DON'T NEED A LECTURE GRAY, OK?" screamed Natsu in such a loud voice that it startled Gray completely. Well, as much as Natsu wanted him to leave, he was the 'Man who can't be moved'**( it's an epic song :D Also listen to hall of fame ;) )**.The next words that Gray said were so soft that only Natsu could hear them.

**Disclaimer (Have no clue what a disclaimer is though O-O): The next words are true for every single guy in this world and even those right now reading my fanfiction. READ THESE WORDS CAREFULLY, they are 100% meaningful. And girls will also like you more if you listen to this advice :D**

"**Boys don't cry...But real men do**."  
"Huh...? What?"  
"Boys don't cry, but real men do. Ul taught me that. Guys think they are strong keeping all their feelings inside, letting them eat away at their hearts and acting manly, but they are all just boys and they are weak. They just want to shut everyone out, not accepting help. If they accept the help, it shows that they are real men because they know they can't handle something and know how to ask for help. So FOR FUCK'S SAKE JUST CRY! YOU CAN CRY HOWEVER MUCH YOU WANT! I won't judge you if you cry. Not now, not ever." Tears were spilling down Gray's eyes at the memory of Ul as she said those words to him. '**Boys don't cry, but real men do**'. At first, he had no clue what those words meant, but now he understood them now more than ever, and he was glad.

Gray and Natsu became real men that day, letting go of all their pains and worries. Even though some ignorant people may have laughed if they saw them that day, all the men in the 'gentlemen's toilet' were respectful and knew that those teens were legends for letting go of all their pain and helping each other through their suffering. Every man there had an unconditional respect for those two teens which became real men.  
After around ten minutes of hard crying, both their eyes were red and they looked like hot messes, but they couldn't keep their laughter as soon as they saw each other's faces.  
"You look like Rudolph the red nosed reindeer Gray!" laughed Natsu hysterically while pointing at Gray's nose.  
"At least the weather's nice in the North Pole! You look like the Scream with your hands like that and your eyes all round and as red as fire!"  
The two guys continued laughing their heads off. It was nice to feel free of a long burden which he had kept in his heart for 9 years. He couldn't believe that Gray would actually do all this for him. Then, Natsu remembered that he forgot something important... "Happy!" screamed Natsu suddenly. "Huh?" questioned Gray confused. "I left Happy! We need to find him right now!" Natsu grabbed Gray's arm and speeded off to Fairy Tail._ I'm so so so sorry Happy. Please forgive me..._

* * *

**A little before the scene before this one**

After Lucy found Erza, she squealed her idea as if it was the most genius plan ever. "Erza! Let's go buy guy clothes so that we can enter undercover without being kicked out, what do you think?" Erza contemplated a few moments before nodding her head._ Don't know why we can't just go in like this...but at least I can check up on Natsu_. So the girls after twenty minutes of debate at NEXT's men section, they both compromised on hoodies, baggy grey trousers and white trainers. Clearly, they hadn't noticed the sign which clearly stated 'ALL HOODS OFF'. The security officer walked up to the two disguised ladies witch a menacing scowl on his face.

"May I remind you two to remove your hoods off for safety" said the angry officer at the two clueless girls. Just as they were going to remove their hoods, they remembered that he patrolled the men's toilets. Unless they wanted another shopping trip, they had to scrape. Fast. Erza slowly turned her head to Lucy exactly the same time as Lucy did. They dashed off in the barbers, hoping to lose the officer. They hid under a table, praying and wishing that they wouldn't be caught. Luck was on their side. Someone had robbed a store, so they were free to roam. Erza found two wigs on the floor and brushed them with disgust before giving the other to Lucy. They got out of the barbers, trying to walk like guys did. A few people sniggered at them because they looked like they had a serious case of S.I.M.P.** (S.I.M.P. Squirrels in my pants! :D Pheneus and Ferb, never watched it though xD).**

When they finally arrived at the men's toilets, they saw that all the cubicles were empty and slumped back in dismay. Such a waste of time! Then, Erza received a short text message. "Meet me skool now. Bring Lucy. Urgent." Even if it was urgent, he could have been a bit more friendly! Then again, Erza had been anything but friendly to him... Before the guy next to them was going to scar their lives by letting them watch him urinate, Erza dragged Lucy outside and showed her the text message before they sped back to the school

**15:35 Fairy Tail **

"What's the problem?" panted Erza. She had rushed all the way just to make sure that she wouldn't disappoint Mr. Makarov.  
"The old man wants to talk to us briefly. Oh, and Aqua is our guardian and we get free food!" said Natsu, and Aquarius poured water on Natsu from a jug. Luckily, it missed Happy's blue fur which disliked any sort of liquid. "Dare call me that again, and I'll drown you in the river," she glared icily at Natsu. Everyone knew that when Aquarius said a threat, she meant it. But Natsu just laughed. Aquarius somehow didn't kill him there and then because she received a sweet message from her boyfriend Scorpio. Apparently, he was going to teach in the school in a few days as he was a teacher of Saint Hopes.

The Student Councillors sat in their labelled and respective seats, awaiting the speeches of Mr. Makarov and Aquarius. "Ok listen up kids. In this Student Council, there will be no Student Council President. You will all be the Student Council presidents, and you will work as a democracy, NOT as a dictatorship," he was evidently staring at Erza, but she didn't even see him. Her eyes became glazed and she was shocked._ No... Just no... I need to be the president!_ He continued, "Furthermore, Gajeel and Juvia will clean the whole school as we heard you two did a little 'robbery' in the shopping mall. Don't forget the toilets!" Another shocked silence. Two more eyes glazed over. No one had seen them. No one. So how had known? "Don't worry, I won't tell the police this time. Natsu and Gray, you both will receive punishment from Aquarius as she kindly lists all the stupid things you have done today. And Lucy? Because you maxed your credit card and you paid not one cent of what you spent, which is over 30 billion Jewels, you have to pay it all back. Now, I'm going to drink beer and stare at my lovely Mira!" All the Student Council were in shocked/horrified silence. How could they _ALL_ receive punishment?** (Oh don't worry people, being called selfish is enough punishment for Erza Scarlet :D)**

"Listen up! These are the things Natsu and Gray have done: Speeding, breaking computers, being noisy in the cinema, ripping clothes at the mall, eating unpaid packets of food, eating ice which was supposed to be used for the most economically powerful person in Magnolia to eat shaved ice, scared little kids, fought everywhere, blah blah and the list goes on. I mean seriously, I have enough trouble with normal students, but why do I get the worst lot?" Just then, all hell broke loose. Chaos erupted as Erza covered her ears and started whispering all her accomplishments; Natsu and Gray started fighting and trashing the place; Gajeel tried to escape, but when he found out he couldn't, he kept on harassing the wall with punches; Juvia literally cried a river because she had loved the bag, but she could not afford it today; Lucy started making angry phone calls to the banks for not giving her a limitless credit card. As I said before, this was insanity and no one could control it. Aquarius just stared lovingly at her phone while she read and texted and vice versa.

Pure Insanity.

**Sorry this chapter is really short :( Next time, I'll defo write more :D And which writing style do you prefer, this one or the previous one? ;) The reason I'm asking is that I grew angry at fanfiction for not allowing me to write a chapter without everything going missing, so I had to use WordPad instead. Sorry there isn't any Grayza or Nalu :(, but I hope you found it at least a bit funny because in the next chapter there will be big events :D XXXXX**


	8. Forge for your Foes

Be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**Hi peeps :D Sorry I've been M.I.A. for ages now xD My laziness is to no end... Just been enjoying the summer and the freedom :D. Guess life was becoming too stressful, so I had to tune myself out and do nothing but concentrate on staying happy and stop being negative (which by now you know is something I'm probably rubbish at :D). I hope you all enjoy this chapter :D Currently listening to Amnesia by 5SOS (which you probably didn't want to know xD). Agh! My memory is completely ruined and I can't remember the big event, so now I've got to remember it or leave it for another time -.-... You know the drill by now, swearing and all that jazz ;p.**

**DISCLAIMER: Defo don't own one of the awesomest anime ever called Fairy Tail, just this story :p**

**Chapter VIII: Forge for your Foes**

**Cana's apartment**

"Dad! I told you I'm not sleeping with the guy! Why do you always have to make such a big deal out of me and Hibiki!" screamed Cana on her phone before hanging up on her father. Hibiki had left for family reasons a few days ago and she was all alone. She felt exasperated because her dad wouldn't approve of their relationship. Silent tears streaked her face as her eyes became more swollen and red. As if she was a lifeless corpse, she walked infernally slowly to the corner of her apartment before she sat down, cupping her legs in an embrace to give herself some warmth. _Why can't you just love him like you love me Daddy? _She thought before a waterfall of tears engulfed her.

A few minutes passed before she began to control her emotions again. Looking at her left finger, she saw what she had agreed to. She saw how happy she had been and the bliss of the moment, but now, it seemed so far away. If her own father couldn't accept him, then she would just have to go through it alone. She slapped her cheek and told herself _you can do it, you CAN convince Daddy. _She sighed. Her beautiful babies **(A.K.A. the alcohol :p) **had been taken away and now she could either steal it or ask an older friend to buy it for her. If only that fucking Gray would pay her back... However, she knew he was having money problems... They all were. Her sighing became more frequent as she got up from the floor, wiped her tears and started cleaning all the broken bits of glass she used to vent out her anger. She regretted her last words to Hibiki so much she had been hating herself, but she knew that they had to be said...

_Flashback: Cana and Hibiki were walking hand in hand to the train station. "Look babe," Hibiki started, "I know that talking to your dad won't be easy but... it's happening in two months. If your dad says no then... We have to continue without him. Gildarts hates me, you know that, and when he finds out that..." Cana put her index finger on his lips to silence her lover.  
"I know. But I'm sorry, he has to be there or it won't happen. You know that." She slightly glared at Hibiki.  
"Cana, I don't know if we can wait any longer! He will never accept me if it's the last thing I do..." said Hibiki in exasperation. Cana had had enough.  
"Hibiki, if you can't accept my dad, then maybe you don't want me! He was there for me when my mother wasn't and where were you? That's right, following your 'dream' of being a tattoo artist in another fucking country while I was going through the worst stage of my entire life!" Cana's blood was boiling with rage at the memories of despair while her breathing quickened. She stopped being angry completely as soon as she saw his black eyes foam over in a cloud of despair.  
"I'm so sorry Cana. See you soon, and stay healthy since you can't drink anymore because..." his gaze drifted before he looked her in the eyes, "Anyway adieu mon amour," he said softly before kissing her sweetly on the lips and getting in the train._

Cana had tried to call him, but had always chickened out in the end. Suddenly, she was becoming an adult and she wasn't ready. She took her cell phone to try and call Hibiki again but noticed her gift from Gray. Maybe, he could somehow help her. After all, she did need a favour and black mail sounded _oh so sweet._

* * *

**Gray's house**

**6:40 am**

Gray woke up from a dreamless sleep. Something had been bothering him, but he didn't know what. He got up from his bed and walked to the bathroom mirror to check himself out. His eyes became saucers as he realised that he had slept naked _again. For fuck's sake, can't I keep my clothes on for once? _He shook his head in disapproval of his bad habit. As he started having a shower, his phone rang. Getting out of the walk in shower and putting on his uniform as quickly as he could, he checked his phone for a text.

_Log online now, it's urgent._

So, she couldn't get enough of him! How he loved toying with Erza. All those other girls were an easy chase, but Erza was a tough nut to crack. He could never predict what she would do next, and it made him exited. However, he had one nagging feeling. What would happen if the chase didn't end? And if it did, would he just move on to his next target, or would he be in a ... He mentally slapped himself and shivered. He knew he could never be in a committed relationship if he wanted to. He shook his head and headed to his laptop. As he put his hands into his pockets, he felt something round with a smooth surface and a large hole in the middle. He took it out and saw his nightmare. Quickly, he threw it into an abyss of dirty clothes and hoped he would forget about it, but it was something that he was not at a liability of doing. Ul had gone through a lapse of insanity to allow what she did, but there was nothing he could do about it.

He sat on his chair and logged on with a heavy heart, remembering that "eternal promise" he made. _Bullshit. It's all BS. I have to cancel it somehow..._

**_Iceboy has logged on_**

_Titania: Why did it take you so long? 10 minutes, 43 seconds and 20 milliseconds to walk to your computer?_

_Iceboy: Well good mornin sunshine. Guess u missed me so much you had to even count ;)_

_Titania: No you bastard! There is an emergency conference that Aquarius set up and we have to be there in 10 minutes_

_Iceboy: Glad u cared so much ;)_

_Titania: I don't! I'm just warning you. Aquarius seemed enraged today_

_Iceboy: As usual..._

_She's probably on her period _sniggered Gray **(This jerk -.-)**

_Titania: Ugh! Just hurry or you'll be late. And don't worry, I will punish you if you ARE late_

_Iceboy: How do you know I'm not a masochist? What if I like being in pain? I might enjoy the punishment ;)_

_Titania: You gross human! Don't talk to me when we see each other_

_Iceboy: Haha you wish! I bet you'll forget and just hound me down and scold me ;)_

_Titania: Don't even think I'll pay attention to you because I don't like you and you are annoying, evil, selfish, crazy, narcissistic, immature, twisted, sick, vile, obnoxious, self-absorbed..._

**_Titania is writing..._**

_This crazy chick! She just practically wrote synonyms and she's still going on because she can't write more... She makes my day better just like that. Better make her more aggravated, _Gray smiled wickedly to himself.

_Iceboy: C ya Erza if u want to c me **tht **badly ;)_

**_Iceboy has logged out_**

* * *

**Fairy Tail- Student Council Room**

**6:54**

Erza cursed under her breath at that _stupid Gray! _Just because he was popular he thought he could be a bad boy and ruin everyone's lives. Aquarius was still absent while the rest of the student council (excluding Gray) was present. Lucy, her new friend, was staring at her hands under the table while sitting next to Natsu which was stuffing food in his mouth at lightning speed. Gajeel was crossing his arms with his eyes closed, and Erza was sure he was listening intently for something, but what was beyond her. Finally, the Bluenette Juvia had her eyes glued to the door awaiting for someone's arrival. It was all very still and barely anyone made a sound, except for Natsu gnawing at his food.

...

The door opened and Gray stepped in barely on time. In her peripheral vision, she saw Juvia nearly faint with a goofy smile on her face as Erza stood up to confront the cool bad boy. She managed not to strike Juvia as she walked even though she felt a burning desire to kill her for some reason. They were practically centimetres away from each other now and it oddly reminded her of their first encounter. _Now he has to feel my wrath for being a jerk._

"So what brings you here today Gray?" questioned Erza icily. "Oh you know, the usual stuff. School, studying, getting to meet beautiful girls," replied Gray with a smug smirk on his face. Just as she was about to raise her hand and slap him, she realised that she had lost the so called 'dare'. She had spoken to him... To hide her shame, she went back to her seat and sat down while keeping her mouth firmly shut. Erza stared at the table in hope that she wouldn't catch his eye, but she caught him sitting next to her in her peripheral vision. The table was set up in an oval shape, three chairs each side and one at the top of the oval for Aquarius. Out of all the places, he had to sit next to her. There was a seat near Juvia, and Erza had a strange feeling of dislike for her as she realised that she would have enjoyed sitting with him much more.

Aquarius entered in a huff and sat down on her chair. "Why the hell didn't they say that he wasn't arriving today?" questioned Aquarius to the world. "My poor hubby... You!" She pointed at Lucy while glaring, making her extremely startled. "Do you know why they won't allow my darling to enter the school?" Lucy stuttered an answer, "It's be..be..because they haven't fi...finished the reno...renovation yet ma'am." Aquarius slumped in her chair. After sighing for what seemed an eternity, she suddenly stood up and said in a harsh voice, "Okay, listen up! You are the Council and that means that you have to create a Spring/Opening event for the whole school, to remember the collaboration of all the three schools. Now, do you have any ideas?"

The Council stayed in silence before the Salmon haired ball of fun shouted, "A bouncy castle with a ninja which you fight, and each time you beat the ninja it gets harder each level and you go to the next levels until you go through all the levels in the bouncy castle and win a prize!" Everyone stared at Natsu. For once, it wasn't a bad idea at all. "Good Natsu, it shows just how we love fighting at Fairy Tail, any other ideas?" questioned Aquarius while writing 'Bouncy castle ninja'.

Juvia raised her hand almost desperately, as if she had the answer to all the problems in the world and needed permission to speak. "You know you can just say it, right?" said Aquarius while shaking her head. Juvia nodded her head resolutely and stood up and walked to the front, somehow to make her point more grand. "I think that we should have a kissathon. Girls and guys request for a person they want to kiss, and then if their compatibility matches they can date and no one else can kiss them because they are immune." Aquarius wrote that down on the interactive whiteboard. Gray slightly raised himself from his _completely stupid and vulgar _pose and said, "Wait, what if someone already has a boyfriend or girlfriend or something?" he slowly drawled.

... Juvia just stood paralysed for a few seconds before uttering a word. "Well... Then I guess they would be immune." Gray simply nodded at that and slouched again, while Juvia stared at him as if he was the most beautiful thing in the world. "Okay Juvia, you can sit back down now," ordered Aquarius while writing 'Kissathon' on the interactive whiteboard. "Who's next?" she asked and everyone instantly looked at Gajeel, which couldn't care less because his eyes were still closed. At first his lips moved, then he began talking incoherently, and finally he said in a deadpan voice, "We could just have groups of 3 from each school battle one another until there is only one winner."  
"That is actually a good idea. People can start socialising from the three different schools and we can determine more rank orders by how strong people are in combat as a team and individually." Gajeel briefly opened his eyes in an 'I told you so' way before he went back to his dozing. Aquarius swiftly wrote 'Battle arena'.

"Anyone else?" By now, Aquarius had a small smile on her face. These kids were actually getting the hang of working as a team and making up ideas individually. _Think, think Erza! You've always been great at these events and now that you lost full control, you become this pathetic? No way! C'mon brain work! Please... _Erza thought and re-thought but nothing was popping up. Lucy raised her hand politely and Aquarius nodded brusquely, somehow seeming to have a grudge on Lucy. "Now I remember you. You are Lady Lucy Heartfilia, the insolent bitch!" commented Aquarius with a deathly glare. Lucy's eyes became saucers as alarms ringed in her ears. Lucy quickly put her hand down and mumbled, "No, nothing..."

_Please give me an idea, please. I'm begging you, anyone! _Gray slowly stood up as if he was answering Erza's prayers and walked in a relaxed manner to where Aquarius was standing and sat in her chair, causing looks to be exchanged. _No, please God don't let it be him whom has the greatest idea, please. _Aquarius tapped her foot impatiently while looking down on Gray as if to say, 'Well?' and he just replied with a sly little smile saying, "It's not like you were using the chair anyway," and this got a very angry reply from Natsu screaming, "Get off that chair Gray, thinking you are suddenly cooler than everyone else, ice queen!" _And this is why Natsu's my friend_, thought Erza to herself with a smug grin while Lucy tried to contain him. "Of course I am flame brain! In both ways," said the Raven haired teen while taunting the Salmon haired teen.

After Natsu calmed down a bit, Gray put both of his legs on the table while half naked as no one noticed that he had taken his shirt off while in the mist of Natsu's rage. "This is what's going to happen. The whole school will compete to catch the members of the Student Council. Once a person catches one of us, they will be able to use them for one whole day. However, they aren't allowed to physically assault the person, they can only hug them for fifteen seconds," at this, he pointedly looked at Erza, as if that was what would happen with them two. Erza just faced away from him and muttered "disgusting," before he smirked. "We, however, will have the massive advantage. We will know every secret passage, every hidden room, anything that can help us stay hidden before the end of the day. It will run for 24 hours and we can also set traps and disguise ourselves to win this hide and seek game. We can also catch each other but have certain disadvantages against each other. Numero uno, you can't stand anywhere near them unless they are stuck in one position for over ten minutes. Number two, you have to hug them for twenty five seconds instead of fifteen. Thirdly, two of us have to host it while the rest compete, as there will be hidden cameras everywhere. Any questions?"

Everyone sat in silence at Gray's idea. A needle could have dropped and it would have seemed extremely loud. Erza raised her hand and glared at Gray, but he just ignored the Scarlet maiden's smouldering glare and nodded at her question. "So 'this student council race'**(yes, she said while doing bunny ears ;p)**, can we defend ourselves? Can we use violence?" Gray looked confused before quickly recovering and replying, "Duh," as if it was obvious. Tired of him winning this round, Erza stood up and walked inches away from Aquarius' chair which Gray was sitting on and intently glowered at him. "As well as Gray's idea, we could also gain weapons if we fight back those whom want to catch us and we could also gain weapons by collecting something special like the emblem flag of all three schools. The more the flags we have, the more powerful the weapon. Furthermore, if we beat the whole school, we get a prize, likewise if none of us are caught by someone."

Everyone except Erza started smiling and nodding their heads in agreement at their awesome ideas and imagining how it would all go together. "Well, well, well. It seems you guys aren't little twerps after all. You are all dismissed and can go home, I will discuss all of this with Master Makarov and hopefully we can get a plan going, see ya later losers," and Aquarius walked out just like that while texting with alarming speed. Natsu grabbed Lucy and ran, while Erza walked and Gray tailed her. Juvia walked slowly out while Gajeel walked to a specific room in the school.

* * *

**Room 243**

**8:30 am**

"So you came," smiled the mystery girl shyly while blushing. Gajeel didn't even bother greeting her and just passionately kissed her on the lips. After the exchange of saliva, they both huffed and puffed heavily. He gently cupped his hands on her chin and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead. They had been dating for 2 years now and it had been going really well. His heart was captured completely by her and he would never want to hurt her. She giggled a bit before saying,  
"So how've you been?" He just shrugged and said,  
"Okay I guess, but I've been missing you." It had been aggravating to know they couldn't enrol in the same school but now that their two schools were joining together, it had been a big relief. He reminded himself to thank Erza later. She stared at him with misty eyes before saying,  
"When can we stop hiding from everyone? I don't want to keep our _relationship_ a secret anymore! Every time we are around people I can only look away while I crave to hold your hand, when I'm in the library reading I can't even concentrate because even our parents or best friends don't know about this relationship and it's killing me Gajeel..." She started crying on his shoulder, and all he could do was comfort her, while his heart was heavy too.

**Parking Area for the school**

"Luce, where do you want to go to today?" answered Natsu brightly. It was a 'ritual' that every day, they went somewhere fun to enjoy themselves. Lucy slowly released her hand from his grip and stared at the ground. _I've got to do this. It's now or never. "_Look Natsu I'm sorry, but we can't hang out anymore. You are just too bubbly and OTT for me and I've been having a hard time keeping up with you. If being your friend means having a stress packet life, then I can't I'm sorry." _Keep going. You have to. Stop crying! _Without realising, Lucy was crying, but she continued on. "No matter how much we hang out, we will never be truly friends and nothing's going to change that. We are too different, I'm so sorry. Bye," and she sprinted away to her car. Natsu had been listening to what Lucy had said but he had completely zoned out. _We are too different?... We aren't friends? What did I do wrong!? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid! Stupid! STUPID! _Natsu went on his knees as if he had been physically hit and started crying bitter tears. He caught his breath quickly and slapped himself **hard **before running to catch up to her.

...

After that painful break-up (of friends), Lucy felt exhausted and completely broken. This was the only way. She felt so angry with herself. The only boy which made her feel like she was the only person in this world, and now she had to give him up. _Life is so frickin unfair! But it's for Natsu's safety... _She quickly surfed through her pocket before checking the threatening letter. Whoever was out there messing with her friendships, they would pay. She would search the globe for someone with this handwriting and make them pay. She looked at a particular line which stated, 'I'm all eyes and ears. If you betray me once, he dies'. She shivered at the thought of someone so ruthless. She entered her car with tears still overflowing and entered the front seat. She turned on the engine, when all of a sudden something caught her eye. Another note, written in a different penmanship. It said, 'Well done Lucy. I saw what you did, breaking his heart. Do more like that and I just might reward you.' Whoever it was was sick and cruel. She breathed once very deeply before starting to drive. As she was leaving, she saw something running towards her. _No, don't tell me... Natsu! _And she was right. Salmon hair was blowing in the wind and speeding towards her. It constricted her heart but there was nothing she could do about it, as the person had seen what had happened moments ago. She accelerated her car and fled. He barely caught sight of her Blonde hair. "Wait Luce. I SAID WAIT!"

**West side of the Parking Area**

"You like me and you know it," retorted Gray. They had been walking near the school building while Erza had been scavenging for her car. "Like hell I do Gray, leave me alone!" was Erza's reply. She had been angry at him for having a better idea than what she could have made in that short amount of time, and now because she had spoken to him first he had stuck to her like glue. She turned 180 degrees and Gray abruptly stopped, consequently causing him to stare at her face. "Look here Gray, if you piss me off one more time I swear I will kick you were it hurts badly, you hear me?" He gulped and nodded silently. She turned and walked to her car and just as she was about to enter, he spun her around while grabbing her waist and saying, "So the angel's got a dark side. You can actually say bad words," he whispered sweetly in her ear. Just as Erza was about to kick him in the family jewels, a voice said, "Well Gray, I see you're having another affair." His eyes bulged as he slowly started facing the voice of his worst nightmare. "What do you want Ultear?" Erza said while scowling at her worst enemy. "Oh nothing, just my h-" she was abruptly cut off by Gray using his hand to cover her mouth. "Get on with what you were saying other than you know what before I murder you in cold blood." Ultear just looked at him confidently, but she obliged anyway. Gray's palms were sweating and he seemed a bit more strung up than his usual 'Mr. Cool' attitude, Erza noticed. _I wonder what's going on with him. _She thought, but a more present matter was at issue. "I need your help Erza."

"And why would I help you, you lowlife peace of nothing?" stated Erza. Ultear just giggled loudly before saying,  
"Still hung up on the past, huh?"  
"Wouldn't you too, Miss. I am asking for a slap right now?" Erza's blood was boiling and her face was turning the colour of her beautiful hair.  
"Okay fine, let's just cut to the chase. I need you to forge some evidence for me. I've been wrongly accused of murder, but the criminal, which I know and is a witness, burned the evidence which would prove that they are guilty." Ultear flicked her Black hair before giving Erza files and evidence. "This is all you need."

"And why would I do this?" questioned Erza. "After all, I completely despise you."

"Haven't you heard the saying, keep your friends close, and your enemies closer? Let's just say it's a favour for now," and at that, she winked and sashayed into the distance. Despite hating that _bitch, _she knew that she was innocent and that she had to help her. After all, keeping a favour might turn out useful some day.

**Juvia's Car**

Juvia started passionately kissing him. She knew that it was cruel, but he was the closest thing to the real deal and he was a _really good kisser_. He satisfied her until the time was right and she could have the real thing. What was the saying? _Friends with benefits. _That's what they were. No one could know about it because she knew people would judge her and call her a terrible person. She closed her eyes and imagined _his _lips and _his _body instead of the guy in front of her pouring out his love. Could she really keep this up any longer?

**Tada, finally finished! :D I'm beat and it's late :D I'm really seriously sorry for updating this late :( Almost 3 months I think D:. I'll promise I'll try to get my act together :D Don't worry, I'll write more of my silly side notes on later chapters as it's too late and I wanted to focus more on the story. This time, I included all of the SC but I didn't put much romance :( Maybe next time :D? And can any of you guess the mystery people plus what Cana's going through AND Gray's 2nd nightmare? ;p Btw, sorry for spelling and grammar mistakes. Once I save this finished piece, I always seem to miss something, and when I try to change it once it's published it gives me hell O-O. Thanks for reading, hope this chapter was long enough xxxxx Sorry I'm really tired and I'm about to faint xD Again sorry for errors :)**


	9. Court Adjourned

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N:Heya :D I've been M.I.A for approximately a month, so I thought that I should stop being lazy for once :D. I want to thank you all who read this and for the really nice reviews and all of you who follow this story. I always wanted to say this so I guess there's no time better than the present. Definitely not my quote but we can just pretend it is :D. This chapter will be a bit different because I just found out it's either Grayza week, or Grayza week has just passed, so I feel extremely guilty x3. I honestly never know when these couple weeks occur, so I wanted to do a short chapter about just Gray and Erza as kids. Hope you enjoy :) BTW, I am currently writing this at school xD. I'm a rebel! :D... Nope, I'm just a hungry sad person ;p**

**Chapter IX: Court Adjourned**

_Erza_

_When a court case is adjourned, it means that it has been put on hold. I know this because all I've ever wanted to do was to protect others, so law was a perfect thing to study. Right now Ultear's court case is on hold, and I'm remembering what it was like to be a child. Everyone always says children are the epitome of innocence, in which case I think that person is wrong and mistaken. Even though I was protected as a child, my innocence was taken away from me viciously. What a child thinks and what they say usually means that the child has no filter, so they speak with honesty. I could only lie and lie and lie as a child. I stopped lying as soon as my words became a deadly poison to someone else._

_I was walking with my backpack to go home from school, when I was mugged. My memories are foggy of that day, and all I remember were my footsteps, a scream and a gunshot. In a hospital bed, my parents gazed over me with worry etching unseen lines on their faces. My eye was bandaged and I realised that I was the one who was shot, but I never remembered screaming._

_A young boy around the same age as me was convicted. I knew that he wasn't at fault, he tried to protect me. I remembered his Raven hair blocking me from whoever tried to hurt me. I still can't remember his face, as if it was something too traumatic to remember. As we waited in the courtroom, he held my hand and smiled," Don't worry little girl. Don't be afraid." I looked at my hand and could see that it was visibly trembling. I was more scared than I thought I would be. He squeezed my hand in encouragement and quickly gave me an embarrassed kiss on the cheek. Heat grew on my face while he turned around quickly, but I still noticed his blush which was the same colour as my hair- Scarlet._

_Gray_

_I remember a little girl. She was pretty, yes, but something was strange about her as we entered the courtroom. I wanted to reassure her more, but I didn't know her name, and her face has faded from my memory. I stood in court, waiting for the judge to tell me that I was innocent._

_"Please testify witness," and the little girl went on the stand. When she spoke, my mouth started going in an o shape. She said I was guilty, I had hurt her, threatened her. I had apparently shot her, given her all that pain. She seemed legit too, crying in front of the jury and acting hurt, but she knew I hadn't done it. Why was she lying? I told myself. I looked in her eyes, and all I could see in them was guilt and it seemed like she wanted to say sorry. I was sentenced in a juvenile prison for a whole year, but Ul luckily bailed me out._

_Why did she betray me like that? I know I was a stranger, but why lie?_

_Erza_

_I deeply regret what I did. I don't even know why I lied. Seven months later, I confessed had I lied. My parents took me to the psychologist and that was when I told them that I had lied about everything. A child shouldn't accumulate or live with guilt, but that's what I went through in those months. All I know is, whoever and wherever that Raven haired boy is, I will say sorry one day. I will apologize. My regret still haunts me now, but I just hope that I can meet him and repay my debt._

**Sorry it was so short, but I've literally only got 10 minutes for lunch time and I wanted it to be short to reflect on their lost memories. Thanks again all you amazing people for putting up with my laziness and bad grammar and horrible editing :D. See you on the next MUCH longer chapter ;p.**


	10. Borrowed Time

Be my Raven, and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Hiya guys again! Long time no see xp And yes, it's my fault again. I know I'm just going to start making excuses so instead I'm just telling you that I'm going to Paris tomorrow night and the coach will leave at 00:10 am on Friday at my school (way to be a hardcore student -.-) and will go with my sister and some other people. Hopefully I can find a hot French guy ;p. Just joking, my French isn't that great, although me and my sister DID get the highest marks in our class. Anywho, let's get on to this extra special long chapter cause I've failed you guys... I really need a schedule... I realise it's quite late and there's no way I'll finish this unless I put an all nighter, so when I come back in four days and three nights I'll probably finish by then :D. Enjoy and thanks for all the support :D**

**So...It's been over a moth since Paris and I'm being really lazy... I'm sorry :'(**

**It's now almost the new year... ='( Sowwy**

**It's the new year and its 5 am on the 17... At least my birthday is very soon ;) (26 Jan)**

**It's the first of February...**

**DISCLAIMER: Don't own Fairy Tail blah blah let's get on with the story :D (I think I forgot to write a disclaimer on the last chapter -.-'...)**

**Chapter X: Borrowed Time**

**District Court 9:37 AM**

**Defendant Lobby No. 3**

_The guilt is still swallowing me up now, and it will be only a matter of time before everyone finds out a secret I've been having. It's been fortunate that my parents haven't been in the house lately. A couple more months... seems like a long time, but fifteen years have nearly gone to waste..._

_There's Ultear. She better have a good excuse why she's late or I'm going to murder her sorry ass. _"Needed to buy a new ring, give me the evidence," she said with a hint of desperation._ She comes in late with that pathetic excuse? No way I am giving her the damn evidence. _"I'll give it to you at the end of the trial," said Erza with a calm, even voice. As Ultear was about to say, "But!", the bailiff called all in the court. Erza looked over to see the defendant who would take care of Ultear's case, and he was sweating bullets, indicating that he knew it was probably a lost cause.

**Apollo Justice music (If you know the reference pls tell me cause you are so frickin epic! But then again, all of you reading are epic :D)**

**District Court- Courtroom No. 2**

Judge: The court is now in session.

Skye: The prosecution is ready to rock, roll and meet some hot criminals!

The whole courtroom stared at Prosecutor Skye Dalson, who had been in the court for more than five years, yet still no one could get used to her fetish of men criminals. She coughed to regain a solemn silence.

Skye: I'm ready, your Honour (she whispered more quietly)

Trojan: The... the defence... the ddd... I'm re..re..ready, your Honour

This was Ultear's defence attorney, a nervous, adorable geek who was Greek. His family had always helped the Milkovich family. The Vendetta family were usually very confident, but their genes had clearly been placed somewhere else.

Judge: The defendant may enter the courtroom.

The whole room fell silent as Ultear walked in with confidence and arrogance.

Judge: Wow, what is such a young, pretty lady doing here in the court of law?

Ultear put a hand to her eye and produced a tear out of nowhere. _So this is her ultimate tactic, _Erza thought in utter dismay. The Judge seemed to be falling for it though.

Ultear: Someone... someone accused me of murder! I know my school has a tendency to be violent, but I can't even kill a spider because I'm so scared of them!

Erza scoffed at the lies. She saw her nearly kill a person and drown the other one all in the same day. Her head suddenly started pounding at the memories which she had so feverishly erased from her mind. _Stop! Don't come back!... _The whole courtroom was staring at Erza for her scoffing fit at Ultear's lies. Erza looked around her after her pounding headache diminished and started to speak when a loud **THUD **bolted the door open.

Gray: Sorry I'm late. I was chilling with my bro.

Gray lazily walked towards Erza with a sly smile while pointedly waving in her direction. With the power of her great mind, Erza tried to control his movements and direct his gaze somewhere else, anywhere else, just as long as it wasn't on her. He finally reached her after what seemed an eternity and sat down into an empty seat. As he looked at the defendant podium, he froze at the sight of Ultear before looking back down on the ground. _Not so cocky now ,huh! _Thought Erza with a pleased expression.

Judge: Why are you rudely interrupting this court of law?

Ultear: He's my f...

Before she could continue, Gray hurriedly said,

Gray: Friend. She's my friend, but more like a childhood one, right?

He glared at Ultear, as if sending some sort of secret message.

Ultear: Whatever you say.

She spoke with a small smile in her face.

Judge: So beautiful witness, may I please know your name and occupation? **(Is it just me, or am I making him cross the slightly pedo line O-O?)**

Ultear: My name is Ultear Milkovich and I'm a sweet sixteen year old student.

The judge nodded his head to show that the prosecution could speak. Miss Dalson seemed sad and had a pout on her face. She quietly muttered,

Skye: I thought the suspect was a guy...

before continuing.

Skye: Every one of you should have the court records. In them, there is the autopsy for our poor, tragic victim. At the age of only 25. Steven Gorghe died last Saturday between seven pm and ten pm.

Erza: Objection!

Even though the spectators were not supposed to interfere with the case, Erza was a special case. All her life she had worked hard just to become a lawyer, although now she was having second doubts of whether she really wanted to study law, but that didn't matter now. She had got her degree and could now intervene in cases whenever she wanted. All she had to do next was graduate.

Judge: Yes Miss Erza?

The judge knew her well. At a young age, Erza had wanted to be a lawyer, so she had familiarised herself with everyone in the law firm she had wanted to join, including judges and such.

Erza: Ultear was at a study session in the school that evening, hosted by me. There should be proof of this in the records plus CCTV footage. Let me also state that she had been asleep for three hours, and I made sure she did not leave the room unless she had finished her work.

The judge gave her a questioning look before calling out,

Judge: Bailiff!

Bailiff: Yes, you Honour.

Judge: Please go to the school and collect all this information and the records.

Bailiff: Yes sir.

While they waited, the Judge asked for the case to continue.

Skye: As I was rudely interrupted before, I would like to say that it was blunt force trauma (BFT) square on the forehead by an object with a distinctive pattern. The forensics team checked the pattern and we found a match. Only the Milkovich family had that certain pattern on every piece of clothing, furniture etc in their homes. While their family is large, only a select few were in the country. An even select few where able to move without a disability and only one person was in the city. You, miss Ultear.

The whole room started to fill with murmurs of uncertainty.

Trojan: Objection! While what you are saying might be in fact true, you missed out a certain piece of the jigsaw puzzle.

Skye glared at the man who tried to make her seem stupid.

Skye: What, Trojan boy?

A few giggles from the crowd. It wasn't particularly very funny to Erza, our Scarlet haired maiden. Trojan removed his glasses, folded them and crossed his arms, the stance of confidence in the courtroom. Without his glasses, you could see his tiny scar on his eye and how bad-ass he looked. Cupid's arrow was totally wasted on Skye.

Trojan: Well, the Milkovich family were burgled the other yesterday. Some of their possessions had been taken, but they all had one thing in common. Well two, including the all-famous pattern. They were all heavy metal and could easily kill someone in one blow. Unless Miss Ultear over there likes stealing from her own home, she definitely did not have anything which could resemble the 'murder weapon' in question.

The crowd started murmuring again, not sure what to think anymore, Skye shook her head and continued on with her case.

Skye: Look here greenhorn. Just because you're some smart, nerdy, geeky.. cute... hot... so amazing...

Drool subtly started cascading down her lips. She quickly licked it off before continuing.

Skye: Doesn't mean that there weren't any other weapons which may have been stashed under some closets or secret rooms.

Judge: We need proof, not possibilities Miss Dalson.

One thing Skye hated was being told off, so she clenched her fists tightly before continuing.

Skye: Where is a damn bailiff when you need one?!

Bailiff2: Yes Madam.

Skye: Search the area and perimeter of the Milkovich estate for any metallic objects which could cause blunt trauma.

Bailiff2: Yes miss.

And he scurried off.

The judge raised one eyebrow.

Judge: Under whose orders?

Skye crossed her arms defiantly

Skye: Mine of course, your Honour

While all this bickering was occurring, Erza took a chance to whisper to Gray.

Erza: Why are you here? You aren't even involved in any of this.

Gray: You should really open your ears, or do I have to get closer to you?

Now his lips were almost touching her ear, and she felt herself moving further away from his surprisingly cool breath.

Erza: I still have no clue why you are here. Childhood friend of her, really?

She said while inching further away. However he just moved closer and whispered,

Gray: Let's just say that our parents knew each other very well.

Before giving Erza a sad smile. She was so speechless that no retort or clever comeback was at the tip of her tongue.

The Judge coughed, demanding silence again.

Judge: Now that we have regained order, let us get back to the matter at hand. Miss Ultear, could you tell us your alibi as to why you cannot be the culprit?

Ultear: Of course, your Honour.

She said while a small smile played on her lips. Gray slightly bowed his head in silence, hoping she would not _fuck it up._

Ultear: As Erza already mentioned, I had had to stay with her(much to my displeasure) to make sure that I could pass my exams. After the long tedious hours, I had to go somewhere special to me.

Judge: Where exactly, Miss. Milkovich?

Ultear: No offence, but that is none of your damn business.

She tutted while shaking her head, as if he were a naughty boy that said something wrong.

Judge: Miss, if you haven't realised, you are being convicted for a crime.

Ultear: If I'm not correct, I have the right to remain silent?

She raised her eyebrows, pointedly antagonising the judge. The whole room fell silent, and Erza Scarlet just shook her head. If only _stupid_ Ultear cooperated more, this case would have finished an hour ago. Gray began tapping his foot, as if he needed some sort of distraction and without much thought, Erza placed her hand on his thigh, as if to calm him down. On contact, sparks flew and their hearts hitched, becoming one. Rapidly, she let go and stared at every other direction. _Way to go Erza! Now he thinks you're a creep. _She silently scolded herself in her mind. Without warning, Trojan finally spoke up.

Trojan: Your Honour, before we continue this case, I would like to request a fifteen minute recess to speak with my client. I was asked to take this case yesterday, and I'm afraid that I have not arrived very prepared.

The smoothness in his voice indicated that he knew what he was doing, but Erza saw the slight tremor in his hand and knew that he was bluffing his way through it. She knew that he also had questioned Ultear and had read his notes, which had seemed almost flawless in her eyes **(and we all know when Erza doesn't find something flawless ;p)**. Was he trying to buy time? Probably. Ultear was a _bitch _to work with and everyone knew that. Dark memories started clouding Erza's thoughts about the past, and she lulled them back to sleep.

Judge: I grant the break, as it seems our pretty defendant has a pretty strong resolve not to talk. Court adjourned.

Instantly, everyone started shifting and trying to get into more comfortable positions, while others left. Even in those few minutes of dispute, it had been tense just watching the case being volleyed like a tennis match. Gray slowly got up and grabbed Ultear lightly by the arm, which she reacted by giving him a coy smile. Erza felt a twinge of something, as if she didn't know what to feel. The thing that probably annoyed her most about this was that she didn't even really know what their relationship was. Needing someone to talk to, Erza tried calling Lucy.

The hourglass of time was slowly losing sand...

* * *

**Park 10 AM**

Lucy was sitting on a park bench, looking up at the clouds. She couldn't be bothered anymore. Nothing was worth it anymore. A yelp escaped her lips as a loud vibration suddenly shook her out of her trance. Erza was calling. On one hand, she so badly wanted to communicate with her new friend, on the other, she could not be bothered and the latter won. With a pang of guilt, she switched off her phone, trying to drown out the sound. Something moist came crashing down her cheek, slow caressing her pale and cold face, like an embrace. Before realising it, rain pummelled down on her with full force. She slowly placed her phone in her bag before soundlessly crying.

Her thoughts went back to a memory that had not seemed special at the time, but it was probably the last thing she wanted to remember when she died:

_It was late and there was a light drizzle outside, which was pretty rare. It was usually sunny with a slight breeze, which was the perfect condition for Lucy to have a happy day. A loud pang emanated from her door, and she slightly jumped up in surprise. Who could it have been? Cautiously walking to the window, she saw familiar Salmon hair. Her smile instantly brightened, before she tried to cover it up with her mouth._

_"Hey Natsu!" she beamed at the boy, who looked haggard and tired. Without warning, he collapsed on her chest. A muffled scream emitted from Lucy. His head was on her chest, His head was on her chest! HIS HEAD WAS ON HER FRICKIN CHEST! She realised that his breathing was low and not constant, while his head felt feverish. "Are you okay?" she asked. He did not reply. Without a sound, she placed his arm around her and started dragging him to her bed. She honestly didn't even know how he had found her secret hiding spot. When things got tough, she always ran to this place, a little building that her mother had built for her to sleep and relax whenever she felt tired or stressed. Gray must have probably told Natsu... The jerk._

_As she slowly placed him on her bed, he began to mumble, before suddenly getting up and screaming. Panicked, Lucy could only remember instinctively hugging him and kissing him lightly on the cheeks, his forehead, his nose, his eyes... As soon as she realised what she was doing, she let go and turned around, ashamed to do such intimate things with a guy that wasn't her boyfriend. Sure he was a boy and a friend, but not in that way! After preparing herself, she slowly turned to see Natsu crying silently, as if that nightmare had taken all the fight he had in him. She quickly resumed the hug, without trying to kiss him. Whispering, she said, "What's wrong?" As she cradled and rocked him back and forth. He mumbled wordlessly, making no coherent sense. "Hmn?" she asked, trying to get him to speak a bit louder.  
"My dad abandoned me. I don't know why. It's probably all my fault. My mum hated me. She despised me. Probably. She died when I was young giving birth to me. She probably wants to curse me. She could have lived if I hadn't lived. It's all my fault. No one deserves to have me. I'm an abomination. She must curse my name every night. I still want to meet her though. She had such a pretty smile. Dad probably ran away after he realised I was the main cause of her death. Life's hard. I know, I'm probably being selfish. I don't even know when I'll get my next pay check. It's probably all useless. Why live? Oh gosh, I'm having one of those days again. Why am I so stupid. SO STUPID? Thinking that someone in this world can love me... They'll all just either hate me or abandon me. It's fine, I've lived in this world for a while alone, I can do it for the rest of my miserable existence. What will become of me? Am I really that worthless? Maybe I should just end my life. What do you think about that Luce?"_

_With that, she slapped his face so hard it was red and pulsing. Tears started to prick her eyes, because she felt sad and guilty. Sad that he had to have these emotions. Guilty that her life was worrying about random things that every teenager went through, even though it was probably insignificant. Sad that there was barely anything in this world for Natsu. Poor Natsu. And glad that she could be there, even if it was useless, to comfort this lost boy. "Don't ever say that Natsu! I love you. I LOVE YOU AND YOU NEED TO REALISE THAT. SO MANY PEOPLE EFFING ADORE YOU AND YET YOU CRY!" Before realising her confession, she quickly continued, " Don't ever think that you are useless and you can always come for me to help you. What's the point in all this money that I own **(*cough**cough* we interrupt this angsty moment to say that no offence Lucy, but that money ain't exactly yours so... anywho :D) **if I can't share it with someone? Let me help you Natsu! I'll do anything I can to make you happy, just say so! And before you start speaking, I do not care about men thinking their macho and not wanting help from anyone, because if you dare, I will slap your face so silly that you will look like a zombie from the walking dead and you will literally be dead right this second," she ended with an exhausted pant._

_That day was probably the most memorable day because... he smiled at her. He literally beamed sunshine and rainbows and everything beautiful in the world. Her heart turned into liquid as she saw how beautiful he really was for the first time. He looked so sincerely grateful that she wanted to attack him and cuddle him all night. Slowly, like the first night they met, he put his hand on her cheek and leaned in. The moment lasted seconds, but it felt so deliciously long. After pausing for breaths, Lucy looked incredulously at the Salmon haired teen. HAD HE REALLY JUST KISSED HER? Questioned floated her brain as she almost had a heart attack from the pleasure of that one kiss. Wordlessly, he lay down and patted the mattress beside him, indicating for her to join him. Facing the furthest wall, as she was hyperventilating, he spooned her into a comfortable embrace. The chills from that evening evaporated into a tingly sensation of pure bliss. And they slept all night like that._

_The next morning, Lucy felt cold and sleepy. It had been time for school, and she absolutely craved the sensation of her back on his torso, feeling all his muscles and the perfect way in which they moulded together. With a content sigh, she rushed to take a shower and change clothes as she was incredibly late. The student council meeting was in the morning, which suited her just fine as everyone was usually late for it. When she arrived, legs hurting from the torture of running, she looked up at all the faces and saw from the corner of her eye the guy that stole her heart._

_"Oh, hey Luce!" He said. She stared at him in confusion. Why was he acting all normal, as if the night had not happened?_

_And that blissful moment was gone._

She sighed at the memories, wishing it had developed into something more. Sadly, all she could do was accept that fate just didn't want them to be together, for unknown reasons. She took her phone out of her bag and called Erza, hoping she wasn't too mad. Remembering would only bring back the hurt.

The hourglass of time was slowly losing sand...

* * *

**Coffee Shop 8 AM**

Juvia sat in a comfortable stool_, _waiting for the link to her small happiness. Breaking hearts was a small matter to pay, after all. After scrolling through all the rain songs on her playlist, she became dissatisfied. Nothing seemed to be going the way she wanted it to. From her peripheral vision, she noticed a girl with Brunette hair who probably had exactly the same expression as her. Love did that to people. She was talking on her phone, arguing with a man, probably her father from her tone of voice.

"But daddy! It's really important. I'll do anything to prove to you that he is perfect for me and that nothing will go wrong. Yes! I know, dad, we are teenagers. So what? ... Oh, so now I'm not a young lady, but your little girl? I can't handle this anymore!... Cana this... Cana that, just listen to me for a second! Fine! HANG UP!" she screamed ferociously before throwing her phone on the table. She seemed pissed, but it was probably just a onetime thing. He finally arrived at the door, and Juvia smiled. He kissed Juvia gently on the forehead before he held her hand to leave. As he turned around, he gazed at the Brunette with worry, making Juvia instantly flinch. _Why did I flinch? _She instantly questioned myself.

* * *

"Lyon!" Cana screamed, her familiar voice being music to Lyon's ears, except for that exact moment. He turned his head away, hoping she would back off. Sadly, she just approached him and stared pointedly at his hands interlinked with a Bluenette. "It's been so long!" she screamed as he blushed. He remembered the days when it was just them two playing together, and him confessing his love for her, to be instantly broken-hearted because she had thought that it was a joke.

_It was a bright day when the sun was shining on my face and Cana was sitting next to me, leaning her head on my shoulder. Ever since we were kids, she and I were as close as twins. We practically did everything together, and everyone thought that we would be a couple. Cana was the sweetest, most amazing girl. She was my angel from heaven. Cheesy, I know, but what can you do about it. Falling in love had not been an agenda of mine. My priorities were to go quickly into uni and take care of my lil' brother Gray, who still had a lot to learn. I chuckled softly before placing my head onto Cana's, receiving no reaction as we were so used to this sort of interaction by now. Laying on the grass on that humid day made me want to say my suppressed feelings. After all, she always told me if she had any crushes on people._

_"Cana?"_

_"Hmn?" she hummed ever so sweetly._

_"Will you please give me the honour of being my girlfriend?"_

_Without warning, she burst out laughing, as if it was all a massive joke. I stared at her incredulously, awaiting for another response which would not make me feel like I was breaking into a million pieces. It never happened. She just brushed it off as a joke, and to make myself not seem even more like a loser, I laughed along with her and quickly left. We never spoke again. At school I deliberately ignored her and made sure to change my friends to people who didn't know her. What I didn't account for was that my new best mate Hibiki seemed to have a crush on Cana and rumours also started that she liked him. Devastated, I became a lone wolf and only cared about taking care of my brother. It was useless trying to find a girl to connect with, as they would mostly all go for me just to get to Gray. My life= Disaster. Nothing could have made me stoop lower and lower into the hole I dug myself into, and I was humiliated shortly for my sudden change in attitude, before they got bored and left me. Wallowing in sorrow was the only thing I could do for at least a year._

Looking at the girl who broke his heart and made him wallow in pain for a solid year somehow did not anger him, but surfaced old, forgotten feelings. He smiled as she continued to chat and talk to him, unaware that Juvia was standing beside him until she squeezed his hand. After regaining his track of thought, he introduced Juvia to Cana. Cana just nodded before continuing to speak, as if she wanted no part of being close to Juvia. Wordlessly, Cana grabbed his hand and led him to a quiet corner of the coffee shop, aware of Juvia's bewildered deer-in-the-headlights gaze.

"What's wrong?" Lyon muttered. Cana sighed before starting her speech, "Look. Whatever I did in the past, I'm sorry for doing it. I always wondered why you stopped talking to me until I realised what happened that day. Your confession... It was real, wasn't it?" Lyon slowly gulped, dragging along the seconds before finally nodding. Cana grabbed his face with her hands gently and said, "I'm so sorry... But please, whatever you do, don't go out with her." Lyon wanted to speak, but she put a finger on his mouth to silence him before she continued. "Juvia has this... Habit of liking guys a lot. She just fan girls over these guys until she either goes with them or goes out with someone close to them who is either the brother or the best friend, to make him jealous so he can go out with her. I don't want her messing with you too Lyon, so please dump her or just end whatever you two are doing, because she will dump you in three days and forget about you."

Lyon stood there, flabbergasted. He had been dating her for over two weeks, and everything seemed to have gone well. Cana had always been good with fortunes and knowing what people were like, so he knew in his heart that he 100% trusted her. He shook his head vigorously and began pacing backward a few steps before running away from the reality. He did not want a repeat of his previous heartbreak. He wanted to scream, cry, do anything! But he just ran, feeling the adrenaline and the pain seethe inside of him.

The hourglass of time was slowly losing sand...

* * *

**District Court 8:20 AM**

Erza had just finished talking to Lucy in a hushed tone, as everyone had stayed silent in the defendant lobby. She had seemed a bit sad, but Erza knew that she shouldn't get involved when she was not supposed to. _Maybe something has happened with Natsu? _The case was about to start again, and Gray and Ultear had been M.I.A. throughout the whole break. Erza started mentally slapping herself at how weak she had become. Since when did she start to care about others? Not in the past and certainly not in future. Maybe distancing herself would make these stupid feelings of longing go away.

Judge: Court is back in session. Mr. Vendetta, is your defendant ready to speak now?

Trojan: Yes, Your Honour.

Judge: Then let's have her testimony.

Ultear walked in and stood on the defendant stand with a worried look while scanning the perimeter, as if she was trying to find someone. Her arms were crossed tightly around her chest and sweat seemed to be cascading slowly down her brow.

Judge: You may begin, Miss. Milkovich.

Ultear: On the night on this supposed 'murder that I committed', I was at that revision thing with Erza. It was boring and stupid, but I had to do it or I wouldn't get my allowance. After that tedious 3 hours, I walked to a friend's house. We talked about stuff and played video games. Then, I went to another friend's house, but I needed to sort out some legal issues with them. It took ages and I decided to have a sleep over there. I insisted because these days, there are rapists and serial killers and I don't even feel safe in my own neighbourhood.

At this, she gave puppy dog eyes to her audience, as if the crime system was flawed in every way.

Judge: Well, that is true. However, your testimony was very vague, are you sure that you don't want to add anything else to your statement?

Ultear: Yes, Your Honour.

She gave a small, charming smile._ Which is the opposite of her ugly personality, _thought Erza with dismay.

Judge: Well, the defence and prosecution may start with the cross examination.

Trojan: Thank you, your Honour. Hello Miss. Milkovich, I would like you to answer a few questions first.

She just rolled her eyes before nodding with a curt nod.

Trojan: How many times do you get your allowance?

Ultear: Is that really important to the case?

Trojan: Yes, please answer.

Ultear: I don't know, just whatever's in the envelope.

Trojan: So there is never a specific amount?

Ultear: Duh! That's what I just said! Are you deaf?

Trojan: No, I am not. I wondered if it had previously had a fixed amount.

Ultear: Well duh, I usually had around ten thousand Jewels in a month, but then after we moved house and we got new maids and butlers, the money just started to change from ten thousand to around three or five thousand.

Trojan: Very interesting, thank you. I would like that fact kept in the court records.

Skye: Objection! I don't really see the point Your Honour.

Judge: Well, Mr. Vendetta seems to think that it's important, so let's put it in the court records.

At that, Trojan had a triumphant smile.

Trojan: Another question, Miss Milkovich. Who were the two aforementioned friends of yours?

Ultear: I would like to keep that confidential, but I can tell you who the second person is.

Gray Fullbuster.

Erza stared wide eyed at the boy next to her, and he immediately tensed up. What the hell did he have to do with Ultear that involved legal matters?

Judge: Well, well, well. I believe we have a witness with that name in the court. Please Mr. Fullbuster, stand on the witness stand.

Gray gritted his teeth to show utter discomfort before walking slowly to the podium.

Trojan: Please give your testimony, witness after saying oath.

After saying oath, Gray started,

Gray: Well, Ultear came over to my house to talk to me and my brother. It was nothing too important. Just some paperwork and stuff. Me and my brother are kinda having financial problems, so she wanted to help. We wanted to refuse, but let's just say that their family 'owes' mine. After we finished, I just went to my bedroom to sleep because I was kinda thinking about stuff. I fell asleep soon after and I don't really know if she stayed or not. All I heard was a car zooming past as I fell asleep.

Skye: Objection! This man has clearly stated that Ultear is guilty.

With raised eyebrows, he asked,

Trojan: How so?

Skye: W...W...Well, she has a car that is very high powered and makes a lot of noise. Only, those are the old fashioned types of cars, which she has. There are around 200 aristocrats here, and most prefer the sleek and less noisier cars. However, the Milkovich family always sticks with the traditional older cars that make a lot of noise and there are only three other families in the area with similar cars.

Trojan: No offence Miss. Dalson, but that is just speculation and proves nothing.

Skye: Don't mock me, Trojan boy! I'll even prove it to you. Mr Fullbuster, was Miss. Milkovich in your house the morning you woke up?

Gray ruffled his Raven hair before answering,

Gray: No, of course not. She knows I don't like her coming to our house or even staying there, she had to have left sometime in the night.

Ultear glared passionately at Gray, which he reciprocated with sticking out his tongue. _Adorable. _Erza thought before stopping herself. _Dammit! Get a hold of yourself._

Skye: And how many cars are there near your neighbourhood?

Gray: Me and my brother live in a secluded street, so the only cars we hear are usually either passing by to the woods or are coming to visit us.

Skye: Ha! I KNEW IT!

Everyone stared sceptically at the crazy prosecutor. She really knew how to make a case lively. Erza really needed to intervene, because Trojan was looking lost and she had wanted to help Ultear. With confidence from within, she stood up and said,

Erza: Objection! May I please speak, Your Honour?

Judge: Of course.

Erza briskly walked to the defence podium next to Trojan. He gave a grateful smile before allowing her to pass and be at the centre-stage of this play, to watch it unfold.

Erza: First of all, I would like to bring in both the bailiffs.

Bailiff one and two entered the courtroom.

Erza: Please show what you have found.

Bailiff1: Well, I have the CCTV footage which shows that Ultear was in fact in the school with you, Miss. Scarlet.

Erza: Thank you. Next please.

Bailiff2: There were no secret rooms that we could find and all the blunt, metallic objects were stolen. It was found in the CCTV footage and Miss. Milkovich had not been in any one of the footages because they were all of a man.

Erza flashed a grateful smile before continuing with her case.

Erza: Well, I'm sure that proves some of the discrepancies. Next, I have a bit of evidence that I have been hiding from the court and for that I am sorry.

Everyone stared in shock at Erza because it was unlike her to hide evidence.

Erza: May I present to you, the evidence - A metallic clock.

Everyone just stared in confusion at the piece of evidence. Then, they stared to notice the blood stains on the edges and rims of the clock.

Erza: I went in forensics and yes the victim's blood is exactly the same match as this one on the clock.

Judge: Miss. Scarlet, where did you find it?

Erza: Why the murderer's home of course. Or more precisely, inside the Milkovich household.

Confused gasps emanated from the courtroom.

Erza: Well you see, it couldn't have been Ultear and it certainly wasn't her family. Remember when Trojan saved the piece of Ultear's testimony in his court records? It was about the allowance being manipulated. Clearly, her parents never alerted her of the change and they would have kept on giving her money. The new servants clearly tampered with it, but who was it? That is the main question. That servant had to live inside the Milkovich estate, so no one who had a house to go to is guilty. Next, as it was blunt force trauma on the forehead, the victim must have had an acquaintance with the murderer. There was no altercation because it was someone they knew. Next, let's envision the murder scene. It's around eight o' clock and Steven Gorghe, our victim, is reading a book in the servant's quarters on his chair. A familiar face goes closer to him and grabs the clock next to him, feigning to check the time before hitting him. He collapses and dies, while the murderer cleans the fingerprints off the clock and anything they may have touched before calling Ultear to check on that servant. They take a picture as she stands there shocked. She hears a flash and knows that she's in deep trouble, but there's nothing she can do, so she goes outside to her friend's houses in hope of having an alibi. Now, may everyone stand up please?

The whole courtroom stared at her with bewildered eyes before standing up.

Erza: Bailiffs, please check anyone with gloves or cuts on their hands.

Before anyone knew what was happening, a woman started running to the doors.

She also had gloves.

With great speed, Gray tackled her to the ground and brought her to face the courtroom. She was blonde and fairly pretty, with freckles and a nose stud.

With ease, Gray removed her gloves to find that she had a large cut with what looked like rust particles inside the wound.

Erza: As seen, this woman has rust inside her wound, why? Because she did not think that the murder weapon would injure her as she was later going to destroy the evidence. Unidentified blood is on this sharp edge and if we can get a sample, it would prove that it is hers.

Woman: Shut up! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPP!

The woman had one of those classic Ace Attorney breakdowns. She panted heavily before saying,

Woman: It was all his fault! After months of stealing that spoiled brat's money, he wanted to confess. We were supposed to run away, go on a cruise ship. It was going to be amazing, until he bailed on me and left me. I don't really care anymore because I killed the man I love! Take me away.

Tears brimmed at the edges of her eyes and the case was finally closed.

Trojan gave Erza's hand a shake before she walked away, pleased with the outcome of Justice. Gray ran to her and gave her one of his big, radiating smiles. "Congratz!" he exclaimed. She used her hair to cover her furious blush before lightly shoving him. Suddenly, the world started getting hazier for Erza. Her breathing slowed, her heartbeat quickened and the next thing she knew, she was on the floor. A voice was shouting her name, but she didn't care. It was happening again. A white light was numbing her vision. "Just let me sleep..." she whispered before she was gone.

The hourglass of time was slowly losing sand...

* * *

**Arcade 16:45 pm**

Natsu stared at the gaming screen before him. How many hours had he just sat there, doing nothing? His adorable cat Happy meowed softly while nuzzling his face on Natsu's leg, as if trying to cheer him up. It was, but only slightly. How he wished he had said something to her that night. When they had kissed, he felt that the world had been a better place. He had found his Blonde haired goddess that kept him grounded. He had been slightly drunk, so he had not wanted to make it awkward the next day by bringing it up. He hadn't wanted to face up to his feelings.

They had only known each other for a short time, yet his world broke apart whenever he wasn't near her. There was definitely something wrong with him. How could he have these types of feelings? He didn't want them, as he still remembered that terrible accident that ruined his life. It was all his fault. He didn't want to ruin another beautiful soul. He sighed for the up tenth time that day. Who was he to fall for a girl like her?

Finally, he got up from the stool he had been sitting on and begrudgingly walked home. He missed human contact. Maybe talking to someone would be a good idea, but whom? His mind instantly went to Hibiki. Even though he was a bit weird to Natsu, **(I feel like this part should especially be highlighted as he is probably the weirdest, adorable goofball but anywho ;p) **he always gave good advice. He texted him quickly before getting on the train. The train moved quickly and the landscape brought Natsu to so many memories.

_Natsu was holding up Lucy's hair because she was throwing up in the toilet. She was violently vomiting while incoherently screaming, "I hate you so much Natsu!" He just laughed because she was crying. It wasn't his fault that he had waned to join the food eating competition to win a whole year's supply of free sea food. They had won, but she had immediately felt sick. He reminisced until she finally finished. "Done?" He questioned with a sly smile. He could see that vomit was all over her brand new shirt, and he started to feel bad because he knew that it cost a lot more than his small apartment. She just pouted at him in reply and crouched on the floor, trying to avoid his gaze. Suddenly, he had a match and made a fire out of the toilet roll in the girls' toilet.  
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING NATSU? ARE YOU CRAZY?" Lucy screamed at the bonfire Natsu had created. Without warning, he removed her shirt and washed it with expert hands before putting it close enough to the fire to heat it but not burn it. The shirt slowly started getting drier and he smiled in relief at his expertise. Lucy's eyes widened as she saw that his leg was on fire. "Natsu your leg!" she said as she jumped around in panic looking for a bucket. He violently shook his leg in hope to make the fire go away. As soon as she saw a bucket with water in it, she threw the contents at Natsu. The water had actually been dirty and he was soaked with dirty water. Without warning, they both started laughing hysterically at their stupidness. Natsu took off his shirt and trousers to reveal his boxers, which startled Lucy and made her turn her head away, as she was wearing a vest and her skirt and shoes still. Slowly, she sat beside him, watching their clothes dry. It had become a strangely intimate moment and she put her head on his shoulder, as they watched the flames together. They both instantly relaxed and their faces stretched into blissful smiles. The fire alarm awoke them from the beautiful moment and water cascaded, ruining their bonfire. Lucy just raised her hand to catch the water droplets while they just looked into each other's eyes._

The train was at Hibiki's stop. Hibiki was there waiting and he waved, a sad smile etched on his face. "Problems with Cana?" asked Natsu.  
"Yep..." He said with despair. "She is still reluctant, even after all the months of planning."  
"Don't worry man, I'm sure everything will go just fine. If you want, I can talk to Gildarts?"  
"Would you!? Her old man loves you!"  
"Hhahahaha! I don't think he loves me, but yeah I can try."  
"Thanks bro. Now, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Natsu stayed in silence for a few seconds before answering, "Okay listen. I've got a friend... and he has a couple of problems. He likes this girl and wants to know if she likes him too but he may have pushed her away and then she may have also been threatened by someone and now she doesn't want to talk to him. Hewantstoknowifitstherightthingtodotojustleavehisrelationshiplikethisandforgetaboutherandhelpherfromafartobehappy?" said Natsu really quickly at the end.

"Okay, so I'm guessing this friend is you and you are still hung up over... her, right?" Natsu just nodded. "It wasn't your fault Natsu. She would want you to be happy. And whoever this new girl is, I'm sure she reciprocates your feelings. Just tell her how you feel and make sure to take care of her, understood?"

"Aye sir!" Natsu beamed before running to catch the next train and catch his dream before it flew away.

The hourglass of time was slowly losing sand...

* * *

**Studio XXX 17:59**

Mirajane Strauss was posing for her new photo shoot, after her new movie Fire VS Ice: 2 of the 4 Elements had been released a couple of days ago. She did it gracefully and effortlessly, like always. Today, she kept on thinking about a certain Salmon haired boy. Maybe it was time to tell him the truth? But she barely knew where he was or where he lived, after he disappeared so suddenly. She badly wanted to contact him. "Mira, are you ready?" asked the director. She responded with a sweet smile and continued on with her bridesmaid photo shoot. She had always wanted to be the best maid for her sister, and she knew that would no longer be possible. She was okay with that, but she had still wanted to make sure that the Salmon haired boy did not suffer. Her need to talk to him became urgent every single day. Everywhere, she could see him and she would chase that person, only to be confused and accidentally talk to a random stranger. She finished the shoot and took a photo from her bag in her dressing room. Two young children were smiling happily, as if nothing in the world mattered to them. There was a heart shaped cloud behind them, as if even the cloud knew that they were soul mates. Even if Mirajane had agreed that they would have made a cute couple, the White haired girl in the picture would never truly love the Salmon haired boy in that picture. She knew that he would have eventually found someone better.

Tears started tainting her cheeks, as if she had kept them for a while. She had been crying a lot more often these days. Maybe it was because she kept on glancing at this picture which brought her back to her past. She knew that the past was supposed to be forgotten and to live in the present, but her thoughts just kept on wandering to those days were she had been truly blissful. She did not want to go to her grave and keep the secret of the girl with short, White hair. How could she find him? It was tearing her world apart.

She needed to find him before it was too late. What if he had ended his life? She could never live with the guilt of that. Her whole life was revolving around that matter. It had to be fixed. It just had to. While everyone thought her career and life was going splendidly, internally, it really wasn't. Her nightmares haunted her every single day as she saw the face of the boy who had lost all hope in everything. Nothing that she said that day would have fixed his expression or made him feel again. She knew that. Yet she still needed to tell him.

It had all been a stupid, horrible mistake. If she hadn't been so harsh, maybe he wouldn't have run away. It was all her fault. She needed to mend what she had broken. She had found her metaphorical super glue and needed to use it. Would he listen if she spoke to him? Or would he run away? Maybe he was still the same and never changed, or he became a dark, depressed and tormented soul. Somehow, she knew that he had definitely turned into the latter and not the former.

Her love life had been suffering because of this matter. Yes, she occasionally flirted to make herself more aesthetically pleasing to potential clients and tried to find romance. However, every time she came close, she would push them away in horror because she did not want to have the feeling of pain clouding over her romance. She knew that she would just become overprotective and cynical, eventually pushing them away because she would never want them to leave her side. It was sad, but she had to break off whatever connection she had with someone every time she felt herself getting closer to someone. At least she still had good friends to depend on. With a content sigh at the reminiscing, she packed her things and left.

Sadly, she had forgotten her car keys, so the train would have to do. She wore her glasses, just in case she was recognised, and plugged her earphones in her ears to drown out the sound of people. She sat down and closed her eyes, letting her mind remember meeting a little girl once who had had the most incredible voice.

_It had been a nice Spring day and Mirajane was at her vacation house. It was still too early to wake up, but she couldn't sleep. She was still sad about pushing away the thing that had made her and her family so happy, and now he was gone forever. Her guilt had been clouding her heart until she had become unresponsive and had barely spoken a word in three months. Her parents had taken her to the doctor, only for them to take her to therapists and give her medication she really had not needed. It had been all in vain and she still refused to talk._

_She sat on the wet grass with her red dress with frills, because she just couldn't be bothered to care too much anymore. A beautiful, loud voice started singing sweet melodies. She just sang notes, but they were the most beautiful sounds that Mirajane had ever heard a person sing before. The sweet voice soon started having a coughing fit, as if singing had been really strenuous. Mirajane quickly ran to see a Scarlet haired girl coughing violently near a bush. "Are you okay?" Mirajane asked in a quiet voice. The first thing she had said in months. It had come out more as "Ashh yoo oki?", because she had not spoken in so long. The pretty girl nodded and smiled. Mirajane smiled back. "What's your name? Mine ish Mirajane, but call me Mira."_

_"Erza. Nice to meet you," she simply replied. She began singing again and they just sat that whole morning listening to the Scarlet haired girl sing. She had felt faint a few times and Mirajane had been worried, but the tiny girl just shrugged it off and continued singing._

"Excuse me miss, are you awake?" She was gently woken from her slumber. She gazed up to see a flash of Salmon hair. She looked in his eyes and recognition registered in his as well.

The hourglass of time was slowly losing sand...

* * *

**Hospital 21:21 pm**

Gray gently held Erza's hand while squeezing it. Her hands were cold and unresponsive to his touch, as if she was almost dead. Gray didn't know what to do. One minute they were joking around and having fun. The next, she was on the floor unconscious. The doctors just talked in hushed tones and they had conducted tests for several hours. Whatever they were discussing didn't sound good, but he just wanted her to wake up. A strand of her hair tickled her face, and he just caressed her face before moving the strand back to its original place. They had said that her parents were going to come soon, and he had wanted to stay with her as much as he could.

She looked so calm and defenceless while she rested. She could have been in a coma, and the doctors' still wouldn't tell him. He used the palm of his hands to cover his eyes, as if this was all a bad dream. After losing Ul, he never wanted to lose anyone dear to him ever again. He had become attached to her, and he knew it. She somehow caught his attention and now he was the puppet and she twisted him around her little finger- not that she knew that she had any control over him.

His thoughts got interrupted by her stirring. Erza's eyes slowly opened and she felt the warm embrace of a man. She instantly relaxed. cocooning in the familiar arms. Remorsefully, he removed himself from her and he gave her a lopsided grin, which caused her heart to falter and butterflies to fly in her stomach.

He put his lips close to her ear before whispering, "Are you okay?" She nodded and he felt the movement because of how close they were. He didn't really want to break the silence, so whispering seemed more appropriate as the only sounds were the beeps of her heart through the heart monitor. Her heart was beating at a steady beat and he sighed in relief, not realising that it would tickle her ear. She suddenly moved away before going back into her position.

"Why did you pass out?" Gray asked, curious but not wanting to bog her down with questions. She slowly breathed out before starting with her answer.

"Do you know what the term, Borrowed Time is?"  
"Yeah, I guess. Ul always told me that for some reason."  
"And...?"  
"I guess it literally means that we borrow time to do more things in our lives."  
"Yeah, that's pretty much the gist."  
"What does this have to do with anything?"

Erza stayed silent for a few seconds before changing the subject,

"Did you see Ultear's face when you were practically making her sound guilty?" They both chuckled at the memory of Ultear's horrified face.  
"What's your history with her? Why don't you like her Erza?"  
"Well, let's just leave it for now and say that it was stuff to do with the past... And what about you, what's your history with her?  
The Raven haired teen cringed at that comment before replying, "You know how we were talking about Borrowed Time? Let's just say that she is my ticket to living a happier life."

"Money?" she questioned. He nodded his head with a sad smile before saying, "If only it was that easy..." Which was then followed by an awkward silence. He looked at her for the millionth time that day. She looked extremely pale and tubes were sticking out of her wrist and nose. The medication they had given her made her eyes seem clouded and lost. She looked completely helpless. She patted a small space beside her before shuffling to the edge of the hospital bed. Gray, getting the hint, entered inside the warmth of the bed and they just gazed into each others' eyes.

Time seemed to pass more slowly as they intertwined their fingers together and mirrored each other's movements. The silence was very welcome and it was the comfortable silence that only those with a strong relationship could keep. A blue butterfly fluttered above their heads, erratically trying to get higher and closer to the window. After several attempts, it finally made it out of the window.

The world seemed to freeze at a halt and the hourglass's sand stilled.

Gray started fumbling under the covers while still looking at Erza before a beautiful melody emanated from Erza's folded clothes on the other chair. She turned and took her phone, only to realise that it was a text message from Iceboy.

* * *

_Iceboy: Hey. You know you're beautiful, right?_

_Titania: Shut up! _She wrote while blushing.

_Iceboy: I'm serious._

_Titania: No you're not..._

_Iceboy: I've never been more serious in my life._

_Titania: Thanks... I guess you are kinda okay looking too..._

_Iceboy: LOL! OK?! Girls practically drop their panties when they look at me._

_Titania: And welcome back, narcissistic jerk._

_Iceboy: Glad to be back ;)_

_Titania: Hugh! Why are we even text messaging, it's such a waste of money and we are so close._

_Iceboy: But I don't want to break the silence._

_Titania: Yeah... I guess the silence is nice. But we are probably tampering with medical equipment, endangering many lives._

_Iceboy: Shush! Way to spoil a moment._

Erza just giggled at that.

_Titania: I'm worried for Lucy and Natsu._

_Iceboy: Y?_

_Titania: A) Stop acting like an illiterate and B) They aren't talking to each other and are just avoiding each other. First they act like a married couple and now it's just... I don't know..._

_Iceboy: Leave the kids be kids._

_Titania: But we are technically kids, since we've only lived about 1/7 of our lives._

_Iceboy: But we are mature and act like adults. They can figure out their own problems._

_Titania: Why are you acting so mean?_

_Iceboy: Because I'm right in front of you and you are only talking about other people._

He had said that at the same time as he had written in, which made Erza look up at his beautiful eyes once more. She looked at him guiltily and mouthed a 'sorry'. They went back to their comfortable silence for a few more seconds. Then, they were interrupted by a doctor that had casually stepped inside.

"May I please talk to Mr Fullbuster?" she asked. Gray quickly got up from the bed, ruffled his hair and muttered "Coming.." He looked at her one last time before waving.

The course of the sand began again and time continued.

After they walked into an office, which seemed as boring and as unoriginal as all other offices in the hospital, the doctor said, "Please, sit down." He did as he was instructed and waited for her to continue. "How long have you known Erza, if you don't mind me asking?"  
"A couple of weeks, I guess."  
"And how close are you two?"  
"I honestly don't know. Sometimes, we are really distant and always fight, other times we are completely in sync and tell each other useless and random things which we think is special." At his answer, she just lifted her eyebrows at the vague yet clear explanation.  
"I do not know if you are prepared for what you are going to hear, so let us start from a riddle. Do you know the saying, Borrowed Time?"  
"Why does everyone keep on telling me that?" He said, angered that he wasn't getting a straight forward explanation. He looked up to see the doctor's frightened face, so he just replied, "Yeah, sorry, what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well it has a lot to do with Erza. As she was born prematurely by three months, we had to keep her under close examination. She turned out to be perfectly healthy and in amazing shape, so we allowed her to leave the hospital earlier than anticipated. We had run all tests except for one, as we didn't think it would apply to her. A gene inside her mutated one of her damaged cells, which led her to becoming severely ill a couple of weeks later. To cut a long story short, nobody thought that she would survive and we were all preparing for her death. However, she lasted and became stronger and stronger. It was something we had rarely seen before and we were overjoyed when she survived. We finally did the last test and we knew what was wrong with her. It was almost impossible that she survived and it seems absolutely certain that she would die before her 18th birthday.

Erza Scarlet has had cancer all her life."

The hourglass of time was slowly losing sand... And now Borrowed Time is drifting fast...

**A/N: Finally! This took me over seven hours to complete xD I don't even know why it took me this long but I'm cold and I hope you guys enjoy it. Btw, if you want anything to happen you can just PM me or something, I love reading your thoughts, improvements I can make and ideas :D Finally a year older and still my Beta (*cough* *cough* my sister *cough* *cough*) has still not done anything :D. But that's fine xD. Hope you enjoyed the angst and fluff and I made this 10k for all the slacking. Sorry for any mistakes, I just wanted to upload this ASAP :). Love you all xxxxx**


	11. Say Something

You'll Be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Hi guys! :D Guess what? I'm updating only after 2 weeks #LifeAchivements ;p (btw, I don't use social media so let me be satisfied with this :D). I'm planning a hopefully "special" announcement at the bottom of the screen after you finish reading. Also, please talk to me via PM or review, I love talking to you guys but because I abandoned (sorry :( ) YBMRAIBYS I don't have any more friends :(. Probably know that by now I'm a really lonely person, so sorry for being depressing. However, I do like talking and chatting when I can chat to others so go on, don't be shy! I have tea, anime, books, manga, fanfiction, fandoms and so much more to talk about. Sorry for this, I don't even know why I always write these things xD. Please tell me if you want me to stop. Anyways, let us begin! And hugs because it's valentine's day and my valentine is the internet and youtube :D And this is shorter than chapter 10 :).**

**DISCLAIMER: Don't own Fairy Tail :)**

**Chapter XI: Say something**

**Hospital 21:50**

"Erza has had cancer all her life."

Time stood still as Gray tried to process what he had heard. Were they pranking him? He knew Erza hated him, but would she go that far just to get a reaction from him? He chuckled a bit, and the doctor's eyes widened.  
"What's so funny?" she questioned. Gray still thought she was acting, so he stared at her for a few seconds, waiting for her to also laugh and say, 'You've been pranked!' _No fucking way, you are tricking me,_ he thought to the doctor as she just opened her mouth, closed it and repeated again, "She has cancer." Gray felt something wet prickle his eyes as he realised she was not joking. Not one bit. Her voice was softer and had a lot more sympathy this time, as if she knew that he thought it was all a prank. It had to be a prank. No one as strong as Erza could possibly have cancer.

"I see you still don't believe me, so let me tell you how it happened." She coughed before continuing.  
"Erza's mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age, approximately seventeen years old. After treatment and almost fatal surgeries, the cancer was finally beaten after many years and she was fine. Then, she realised one day that she had actually been pregnant with a child. When Erza was born prematurely, it means that the cancer somehow got worsened. However, Erza did not have breast cancer. To be quite frank with you, nobody knew what cancer she had and no one knows what cancer she has today. It is very worrying as we don't have a solution, and the cancer is just getting worse. When Erza was a child, she was a lot weaker, so she was kept in hospital until the age of five before we knew she was a bit safe. After passing all the procedures, her cancer started to go away a little and she seemed like the shadow of her vibrant, happy self. However, an incident occurred and she began feeling extremely ill again. Before you interrupt me Mr Fullbuster, the details of the event are classified because Erza requested it. Her parents then started working a lot harder to provide for her and they are not currently in the country because they are trying to find the best cures or treatments for her unspecified cancer."

She finished her little speech with a satisfied but sad sigh after saying all that in nearly one breath. Gray just sat there, speechless. What was he supposed to say? It's not like he knew her very long, so all this came to him as a shock and a surprise. He urged himself to _Say something. Anything,_ but his brain was not cooperating one bit. He'd heard of millions of people getting cancer. He thought about it, and sometimes gave to the charities, but he never actually thought about it ever happening to people. _Real people. People he actually knew. People he cared for. The one person he cared for..._

Cancer was always somewhere in the newspapers, overshadowed by terrorist attacks and the murders of people. Things like cancer seemed like something for books and movies to give people feelings, like 'The Fault in our Stars", not to real people, only fictional people. Somehow, his ice guarded heart was suddenly being chipped, and every single time the pain seemed to grow. He began breathing slowly from his mouth, as if that would calm down his heartache and painful headache. His eyes blurred and he fell.  
While falling, he saw a beautiful scarlet-haired maiden singing, but he couldn't see her face clearly. He saw her with a white, flowy summer dress and he immediately wanted to speak to her. She was walking away, so he tried grabbing for her, in hopes she would wait.  
He wasn't moving. He couldn't move. The only thing he could do was watch her leave. She slowly seemed to vanish, and his eyes came to an abrupt close.

* * *

Gray woke up, sprawled on an unfamiliar bed. He heard the sound of beeping and saw he had a hospital robe and luckily he wasn't _fucking naked, like always. _He got up from the bed, receiving a massive headache. He touched his head lightly before grabbing for the nearest wall, which looked white and lifeless. Kind of like his heart, in that moment. He didn't want to have these sad emotions, so making them fill in the void of his black hole next to his heart seemed appropriate. If only he could also put his heart in the black void, so he could temporarily not feel any emotion or remember memories. He pushed back his hair, noticing he had a bandage on it. He must have fallen pretty hard, but he had to now find Erza.

With slow steps, he made his way to the room that held his sleeping beauty. He saw her, lying on her bed with her eyes closed. The covers were around her shoulders, as if she was already dead and they were just waiting for him to put it over her head. He shook his head at the thought, making it vanish just as quickly as it came. He walked with a slight limp to her, every step making it harder for him to breathe. His life did not matter as long as he was next to her. He wanted to be beside her, hold her, and tell her that everything was ok. She had lived this long, surely she could live for many more decades?

Finally, he reached the opposite side of the bed and plopped himself loudly next to her, laying down while facing her beautiful features. He went a little closer to her and whispered in her ear,

"Hey Erza... Why am I here, you might be thinking?  
Well, anywhere you are I will always follow you.  
I feel so small right now, to be honest with you.  
Cancer? I feel like it only happens to millions of other people, not someone I know...  
I'm sorry for being such a massive dickhead these past days, annoying you and all.  
I should have swallowed my pride..  
Not that I would have treated you differently, but maybe been a bit nicer.  
It's strange, isn't it, living only one life?  
We are bound to have regrets, yet everyone keeps on saying 'no regrets', I find it stupid.  
Hey, can you hear me?  
You can speak to me if you want to."

He brushed her fringe away from her eyes, to get a better view of her face. The sudden, gentle movement caused Erza's eyelids to slowly part, to reveal her beautiful eyes which seemed full of pain. He gave her a half smile, but she did not respond. She just looked into his eyes, as if eye contact was the only possible movement she could muster. He placed his hand on her cheek to cup it, and she instinctively placed her hand on his.

"Say something. Please say something.  
You may have given up, but I haven't.  
Don't let me give up, and stay strong Erza.

I haven't given up on you...

Say something,"

He whispered to her, unwanted tears threatening to escape his eyes. He stared at her lips, and they quivered before they let out unwanted sounds of muted screaming. Erza placed her other hand on her ear opposite to the one on Gray's hand and started bawling, as if the demons talking to her of her likely death could be silenced. She screamed and cried, tears brimming her face and cascading in a torrent, as if it was a massive storm. For the third time, Gray saw how defenceless she really looked. He hugged her tightly and she rested her head on his shoulder, still crying her eyes out. He stroked her back soothingly while crying slow and silent tears himself. There was no conversation, and he realised why she didn't say something. _This _was why she didn't say anything. Words did not need to communicate what she felt; her body language evoked the obvious words. It said, _I'm scared. _  
That was all he needed to know.

She fell asleep in his arms...

**And.. done! This was a lot quicker than chapter ten, simply because every ten chapters I've decided to do at least 10k in words (excluding this part). I'm surprised it didn't take me 'till midnight :D. Yes, this was a sad chapter that was supposed to give the feels. Sorry that there is only Grayza, but it's really just a filler chapter and I want to slowly progress to show character development and blah blah xD. SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!(Insert special announcement dance :D): Since it's my half term, I will TRY(keyword here) to upload every day until it ends, and don't worry they will be at least 1k or 2k :). And even though no one asked and no one probably cares (I don't really know why I'm saying this xD) my Birthday was good thanks and I had a cake for myself and a cake from my sister, some nice party food and my parents (Cause let's be real here, I don't have any friends xD). See ya later my adorable chibis :3.**

**Oh also one more thing! If any of you make movie trailers or fandom trailers, I have a story plot you could use for a movie trailer? Don't worry it can be any fandom and you can even say the idea was yours. However, if you know my fandom, would you mind pming me to ask and seeing if we like the same one (My Ultra Secret OTP :D) or leaving a review. Sorry, I keep on saying useless things xD. Bye ;p**


	12. For Argument's Sake

You'll Be my Raven and I'll be Your Scarlet

**A/N: This is the second instalment of the however many days I have of freedom yay! :D (Children yay and applaud in the background). So guess what? I've finally made like a sort of plan, so I'm not writing completely blindfolded and I know what and where the story line is actually going xD. Thanx again for reading this fanfiction and hopefully I'll persevere on to finish the final product. I might even write two a day, because I have so little to do :D (Don't shoot me if it doesn't happen though O-O... fanfiction reading and youtube can be pretty addicting...). And also, keep on writing to me as I love all your lovely comments ;p. Lego!**

**DISCLAIMER: Definitely don't own Fairy Tail, sadly :'(**

**Chapter XII: For Argument's Sake**

**Ultear's mansion- 3 weeks later**

**Midnight**

Ultear lay on her bed, just thinking. It was all she could do, as she knew that screaming or complaining would only make matters worse. Sure, she had won the case, and now her parents trusted her again, but Gray was always with that _little bitch. _Just because she faked a fainting spell, Gray fell for her act. Ultear already knew Erza's little secret. It was supposed to be left in the past, and somehow it had come back to bite her. Uncommon to Ultear, she started biting her perfectly manicured fingernail to vent some of her anger. She spun around, and saw a childhood picture of her and Gray. They had been about the same height at that time, and he looked so innocent and perfect with his huge smile. Those days, he had been a lot happier. Maybe because Ul's presence was still there.

She spun back around, hating to remember the old times before getting up off her bed. It was time for some retail therapy. With no regard of the time, she took her credit card and entered her vintage car. Some people thought she only liked the new and the sleek, but her absolute favourite things were old style gothic and vintage things (for example, her mansion). Ultear's life had been boring, uneventful and predicted from the start. Become a rich, spoiled aristocrat, become a mean girl, and marry a rich guy- simple. However, the plan quickly took a slight change, which had allowed rumours and abominations to be whispered in the family circles. She honestly didn't care less, as the slight change in her life resulted in her being delighted with the outcome. However, that plan seemed to be going downhill. As a child, the outcome seemed too easy to accomplish but now, it was slowly fading away into the distance. She knew she had to do something fast, or her desired plan would wilt and die forever. With a deep breath, she glared at the red light which prevented her from going to the mall.

The traffic light must have been broken, because nothing and no one was moving. Without a second thought, Ultear drove carelessly to her destination, without realising that two other cars were on a collisions course with her, and she was straight in the middle. Ultear's furious mood saved her life as she drove at an accelerated speed past all the other cars. However, a White haired boy and a Brown haired girl were not so lucky...

Ultear arrived at the mall, breathing in the scented air. It relaxed her instantly, and she made her way to the shoe store. They had prepared new high heels for her to examine, and she was silently ecstatic, because they all fit her perfectly and the colours were perfect. However to keep her persona, she acted indifferent and didn't even smile at her absolutely perfect pair of heels that she had seen ever created. While she sat, people served her treats and kept on asking her if she was okay while gently placing her feet in the heels. Every time the person accidentally even touched Ultear, she looked down from her phone and looked absolutely revolted, which caused her to change the shoe fitter every five minutes. They knew the spoiled brat only wanted perfection, but that was something that could not happen. Ultear got bored at shouting and glaring at the people in the shop, so she bought every one of the shoes **(even though she had originally planned to do that anyway ~.~)** and walked briskly away. As she did so, a slow smile crept on her face. Retail therapy was certainly the best. As she walked senselessly across the mall, she felt a shiver compel her. It had suddenly become extremely cold, and she had only been wearing a white, short kimono. She glanced at her left, to find that there was an ice rink. Ultear had been avoiding that certain ice rink for a couple of years, so re-visiting it would do her some good, as she was already in a pretty good mood.

Slowly, she opened the large doors to find skates already ready for her to take, **(even though they were someone else's shoes -.-. Let's just say me and her would never meet or my hand would be the only connection we had - connecting to her face ;p) **she slipped them on her feet and started skating. In the middle of the ice rink, she saw a beautiful statue. Even now, it still did not capture the full beauty of Ul. _Her mother._

She skated up to the ice statue shyly, and took a seat on a bench that was there. a couple were snuggling near her mother's statue, and so Ultear gnarled her teeth at them and shouted at them to smooch somewhere else. As the couple walked away, she heard the guy in the couple say that she was on her period, and she replied by screaming that his girlfriend had pink eye, as the girl had been wearing a blind fold. They just stared, shocked at how true it was while she had her signature small, triumphant smile.

Ultear looked up at the statue and sighed. It had been years since she had talked to her mother, or even acknowledged that she had been real.  
"Hey mum, how've you been?  
I've been good thanks, just tired of all the stupid drama.  
Can you believe that Erza is trying to steal Gray from me? **(Yes, I certainly can :D)**  
I guess not, huh? She had always been a sneaky bitch..."

She paused before continuing.

"...I'm sorry mum.  
I'm sorry for not being there at your funeral...  
I'm sorry for that argument we had before you died...  
But it wasn't my fault!  
You blamed me!  
You said it was my fault, but it was _hers_ and _hers_ only!"

She hissed in a loud voice. People in the ice rink stared at the crazy girl with slightly wild hair. Talking to oneself was definitely a sign of madness, yet she was doing it out loud in public? People just stared at her before slowly moving away from her, as if she was a danger to society.**(And she is, so watch out people ;) )** Ultear calmed herself down by breathing deeply for a few seconds before continuing,

"You can blame me for anything else in the world, heck, you can even blame me for being born!  
But please, never argue about that to me.  
It was not my fault, and you know it...  
...Mum... I miss you...  
I really miss you...  
I'm so sorry...  
You know I don't argue with you for argument's sake...  
We fought a lot and I'm sorry...  
You can even blame me for your arguments with papa... and the divorce...  
I'm so sorry mummy.."

At this, Ultear broke down and cried for the first time in her life.**(Heartless soul -.-... only joking xD)** The long burden of her mother's death had finally struck a chord within her. She was finally not as callous as she had seemed before, and let her emotions flow.

Ul smiled from Heaven, glad her daughter was finally remembering her again. **(Yay for all the mother figures c:)**

* * *

**Hospital 01:05 am**

Erza slept in her bed most of the time when Gray visited her, and Gray did not mind too much. He just stroked her hair and made sure she was okay, before leaving after a few hours. That was their daily routine, and Erza would wake up a few hours later, smiling at his cold touch and remembering every single thing he whispered to her while she had pretended to sleep. When she slept, she knew Gray acted more gentle and much more kinder, as if she was fragile. She usually did not like being treated as fragile, but the amount of times that he had treated her like a toy or 'one of the guys' during their times spent together were much less preferable than his sweet caresses.

Gray came again that day, but instead if pretending to be asleep, she had her eyes wide open in a knowing smile, which mildly surprised him. He ruffled his hair shyly before giving her his perfect, crooked smile, which made her smile light up even more. She had been feeling up and down, one day her cheeks pallid and pale, and the next her expression overflowing joy. Today, her face was the latter, which immensely pleased Gray. As always in the routine, he plopped himself down next to her and lied down on her bed, but this time, they faced each other. They did not speak for a while, enjoying the comfortable silence. Their knees slightly brushed, causing a slight spark to form where there had been contact.

Erza finally opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by the sound of Gray's voice.  
"Erza, what's your hobby?" Erza looked at Gray with a raised eyebrow in confusion, surprised by his question. Why was he interested in something so irrelevant now? Gray stared at her for a few moments before repeating his question. Erza just lay in silence, determined not to tell him. Gray stated tickling her stomach, which earned him a smack across his jaw. It left a red mark, and he stood up and screamed, "What's wrong with you!?"  
She pouted by puffing out air and making her cheeks chubby and round, before saying, "Do not ever tickle me, or I will eviscerate you." Gray just sat there in amusement at Erza before commencing to tickle her again. As she had not expected it, she had been caught off guard and she giggled uncontrollably while her stomach ached. Seeing her giggle made him chuckle, and he continued for a few minutes.

After he finished, she death glared at him and said, "That's it!" before commencing her revenge. With maximum intensity, she started tickling his stomach, his back and his neck. Gray kept his giggles inside, which was absolutely torturous for him, and tried to let her get off of him. He shivered uncontrollably from the contained laughter, and Erza formulated another plan. As she had seen the shivers as a sign of him being cold, she took a vase next to her while simultaneously tickling Gray on the neck with one hand **(As that was his most sensitive spot :p)** and dropped the contents of the cold, dirty water on him. He looked at her in shock with his eyes wide open, and she just started giggling again.

With the little remaining water from the vase, he splashed it on Erza. Out of pure luck, he missed her as she had leaned back on the bed railing to laugh hysterically, leaving water on the tiled floor and his clothes. For revenge, he rid himself of his shirt, which led to Erza becoming Scarlet in the face and hiding her eyes in her hands. She turned around and screamed, "Wear clothes, you pervert!" He chuckled at that and just sat there waiting for her to turn back around. "Are...are.. are you d..d..done?" she asked with uncertainty. He hummed something incomprehensible, which led her to turn around, only to find him still half naked. She stifled a scream and turned back around, now a colour closer to prune. He laughed out loud at how trusting she had been, and he took a shirt from his carried bag before saying "Finished!" **(I feel like there are a lot more innuendos intended than I meant O-O...Sowwy)**

Less trusting, she cautiously turned around with her hands still on her face, hoping he had covered himself. She sighed slowly and removed her hands from her face, seeing that he had actually done it this time. He smiled sheepishly at her and they lay down again, talking for hours.

* * *

**Fairy Tail (I've decided that since Fairy Tail in this story is the largest school, the three schools will just have this name :) )**

**2:30 PM - Same day**

Gajeel sat at the bench outside the school, just looking at the sky. It was hidden behind a very large oak tree, so no one could notice him there when he wanted his peace. It relaxed him seeing the vibrant colours of the sun glowing through the leaves, as it showed how leaves were not always one colour, they changed according to the season or occasion. A bit like himself, if he had to be honest. He could not remember how long he had been several different personas. The scary Gajeel, Gajeel the leader, Gajeel the brother, Gajeel the Student Council Member and so many more. He did not really know which one he was anymore, or which ones were even the real him. A shadow approached and stood in front of him, and he smiled contently. That person was the one who made his real personality shine, like when the sun shined on the leaves to make them more beautiful.

_Levi._

She hovered above him, her eyes questioning. He slowly opened his eyes to show just how blissful he was, and he was met by a soft peck on the lips. After the short kiss, they just stared into each other's eyes. Levi and Gajeel had been dating for exactly three years, and that had been the best decision Gajeel had ever made. Coming from two different families, their situation seemed a bit like Romeo and Juliet all over again. They came from families that did two completely different things and they both hated each other. While Levi was clean cut, beautiful and smart, Gajeel had been born in an influential mafia family. He loved being the heir to the mafia dynasty, but it was extremely complicated with his love life. He had been already engaged to Juvia, but they soon discovered at a young age that they both did not have feelings for each other. This lead to Gajeel being confused, until Levi came along and ironically swept him off his feet. He had never felt more happy, and in his heart he knew their relationship was going to last.

Levi raised herself up and leaned on the old tree with her eyes closed while sighing. Gajeel instantly became worried and asked her, "What's wrong Levi?"  
Levi said nothing. She didn't even open her eyes. Gajeel grew even more worried and started kissing her lids, which caused her to giggle and respond by saying, "That tickles Gajeel!" She had a small smile on her face, so he knew that she was feeling at least a bit better and would soon tell him what was troubling her. He then began slowly kissing her cheeks before going lower until he reached the nape of her neck. He kissed her, and it felt like the gentle touch of a butterfly. Levi finally relaxed and started talking,

"I have something to tell you Gajeel, so please don't freak out..." Gajeel waited expectantly in silence for the Bluenette while she still had her eyes closed.  
"Gajeel... I'm worried for Erza... We have been close friend for a while now, but I'm worried for her...  
The school says she is just sick, but it's oh so much worse Gajeel..." Levi started sobbing her eyes still closed. Gajeel cupped her face with one hand and held her waist with the other while pulling her close. She finally opened her eyes, and he could see just how much she cared for her best friend. Gajeel still patiently sat in silence, waiting for her to speak.

"Gajeel... Erza may... she may die..." she whispered before breaking down. He just hugged her even tighter, confused. _How can that strong ass girl die? _He wondered, utterly confused. They stayed in that position for a couple of minutes, Levi distraught and Gajeel contemplating what she had said. He knew she would never lie to him, so processing the fact that _the _Erza Scarlet could fade from this world sent literal shivers down his spine.

He really did not know what to think...

* * *

**Hospital 3:32**

"So what is it with you and Ultear? Why are you always with her!?" asked an angered Erza. They had previously been talking about their relationships in depth with other people together, and this one had really bothered Erza.  
"I already told you! She is my kinda childhood friend!" Gray was angry too, because Erza had suddenly started shouting at him. He knew that what he said was a half truth, but he could not say what the other half of the truth was. If he did, it would break what he had promised to Ul all those years ago.  
"Tell me the truth!" she screamed in his face a little louder than before. She was outraged because she knew it was only half the story. She had trained to become a lawyer all her life, so of course she could spot extremely easily when someone lied, especially if someone lied to her face.  
"That is the whole truth!" Gray screamed back, outraged. What an ungrateful _bitch! _He had helped her all this time, and yet she was there, **shouting** at him for something that was none of her business.

He got up from the bed, and she just glared at him. Gray was angry because he barely knew anything about her and whenever he asked something, her reply would be very minimal or she would avoid all questions. And let's not talk about her childhood: that was one topic that she was highly against discussing. It infuriated him because he knew deep in his heart that he would trust her with every secret in the world, even with his life. However, she was not complacent and always refused to tell him anything. Before he stormed out, he wanted to know one thing.

"Before I leave this room and never come back, who was it that gave you that scar on your back?" said Gray in the quietest whisper. Erza heard every single breath he spoke, and she took an intake of breath. No one was supposed to know about_ that_. Not even her parents knew! They both glared at each other with a cocktail of anger, passion and sadness.

With an equally quiet voice, she whispered, "How do you know?" Gray's expression softened and he sat back on the bed, ready to re- tell his story.

_Gray was rushing because once again, he was late for something important. He had overslept and there was only forty minutes before it was closing time at the hospital. If he rushed, it would take him thirty five minutes. However, every traffic light was against him, halting and slowing him down every single time. If only he had ignored Ultear's pleas of help. He was so frustrated because he knew that whatever she wanted, she could perfectly do by herself. However, he had fallen for her act like always and accepted. She had added something in his drink to make him sleep, as she had known that he had not slept for a couple of days. While he had appreciated the sleep, he would have preferred weaker sleeping pills as he had only wanted to nap for an hour, not five!_

_He arrived at the hospital, but by that time it was too late. The hospital was already closed for visitors, so he had no option than to either climb the walls to her floor or dress up as a doctor. He had tried the latter first, entering the staff toilets and waiting for a male doctor to take off their robe. A few seconds later, his luck peaked as a male doctor disrobed and entered a cubicle, leaving Gray to snatch the robe and a doctor's hat before rushing out of the bathroom. He had gotten to the second floor before a security guard had done a surprise protocol. To Gray's dismay, that security officer had worked for years at the hospital, so he knew every face at the hospital. When he asked Gray for identification after he had said that he was a new doctor, he had searched the pockets of the green hospital robe to find that the doctor had kept his identification. FUCK! He had screamed in his head. That plan had fallen through and he had been kicked out after being forcefully disrobed._

_This meant that he had had to opt for the second option. Begrudgingly, he had climbed the walls of the hospital. After several minutes of failed attempts because the walls had been so smooth, he noticed a tree that would help him get to the third floor easily. So he climbed the tree with much more success than the previous two plans, and he had finally reached Erza's window. To his dismay, the windows opened from within. He was about to knock on the door before he saw Erza taking her hospital clothes off. She was facing away from him, so he looked away and then thought that a little peak wouldn't hurt **(PERV ALERT! -.-) **. What he saw was a large bruise that covered Erza's back, which had a long, curved scar on it. It looked beautiful yet grotesque at the same time on her pale skin, and Gray had to look away. He had gone down the tree and it had preoccupied him until this very day._

After he told her, he asked her again how she got it with a gentle voice.

"I'm not telling you..." she said with a little less venom than before, but still firm with her resolution to keep quiet. This nevertheless enraged Gray and he screamed, "Fine!" before storming out and slamming the door

**And done! Finished before midnight again! A little longer than the last chapter, so I'm glad ;p How will this argument end? :p Not telling ya. Stay happy my adorable chibis and I hope you dream of Grayza going canon while I'm in the distance just singing love songs on their date while being all dramatic with a violin (which I cannot play xD). But my mum said I'm hopefully getting guitar lessons, so let's hope she's not trolling me :D XXXXX**

**Roxanne**


	13. Meow!

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/n: Hiya guys! This is the third instalment to the however long my half term is so I can write everyday thing :D (Catchy, ain't it ;p). This chapter is a little shorter, but it's because I feel like sometimes I write too much and you guys may get bored. Anyway, this chapter is pure fluff and it contains foreshadowing. Oh and one more thing, a guest (sorry, don't know your name :( ) asked me if Ul is Gray and Ultear's' mother. Basically in a nutshell, Ultear is the legitimate daughter of Ul, then her parents got divorced, and then Ul decided to adopt first Lyon and then Gray, as they had both lost their parents :). Hope that cleared up some misunderstandings ;). Enjoy! :D**

**Chapter XIII: Meow!**

**Street somewhere, early evening**

Carla was just walking and thinking. She had known that her mistress had been ill ever since she had taken Carla into her custody, but those times she had been a lot healthier. She kept on pacing the same streets, because she felt utterly alone.  
No one had wanted to even stare at her when she had become homeless, except for Erza. Erza and her parents had nursed her back to health, and now she wished that she could do the same for her mistress. It was getting dark, and no one bothered to take notice of Carla or even care, but she was used to it. That was how animals were always treated. If only she could become human to help her, the one person that had understood her the most.

When Carla had been hurt by other cats or even _those evil monsters called dogs,_Erza had always told off the masters of the pets and warned that she could sue them. This always made Carla happy, and she always showed how grateful she was by giving her mistress a smile. Whenever Carla was hungry, it was like sixth sense for Erza - she immediately brought her some delicious, refined cat food, not the ugly, tasteless cheap food. When Carla was sleepy, Erza would always sing a lullaby to her. It was called "Meow!" Slowly, Carla started humming the song that had always made her feel at peace whenever something bothered her.

_"Meow! Meow! What a beautiful sound!__  
_A little kitten stalks all the people for food,_  
_Meow. Meow. What tragedy is this?__  
_The little kitty has no home and she doesn't feel missed!_  
_Meow! Meow! Don't worry my little Carla' cause I will be there for you._  
_And even when you feel alone you always remember this!_  
_Meow. Meow. Now sleep my sweet kitty..."_

While humming, a familiar and strange meowing came from a cat next to her. He had clearly been there a while, listening to everything she had hummed. She meowed violently at the Blue cat, surprised he was still not leaving. She meowed a bit more, and he finally left. As soon as he was gone, Carla had wanted to call him back, because she knew he had seen how lonely she was without her mistress. He had looked pretty lonely too, and she suddenly felt like a very mean cat. She bowed her head solemnly, avoiding any eye contact with fellow animals and was about to begin humming again when a familiar Blue cat came back into her vision. Without even trying to hide her smile, she quickly walked to him. He had a small blush and something in his mouth.

A Rose. A ruby red rose.

She stared questioningly at him, and he just shyly put in on the floor and meowed, which was translated as, "It's for you..." A small blush also started creeping on her features, and she put it in her mouth and nodded as if to say thanks. He walked a few steps forward and turned his head around, gesturing for her to follow. She obliged and they suddenly arrived outside the park. The was some sort of fair or festival, so there were many humans. Even though Carla scowled at them, she was greatly pleased by the food and the music. Various street vendors gave them scraps of food as they walked past, and they both savoured the taste of the food in their mouths and the vibrant music.

After a quiet stroll, they were at their final destination. A park bench that had tiny lights surrounding it, and they both hopped on it. The music stopped, and the Blue cat she had barely spoken to said, "Can you please teach me the song?" She felt like she definitely had to as he had made her smile throughout this whole small outing, which only her mistress could do. She nodded and started singing,

_"Meow! Meow! What a beautiful sound!__  
_A little kitten stalks all the people for food,"__

The Blue cat repeated, his voice sweet and vibrant, just like his personality.

_Meow. Meow. What tragedy is this?_  
_The little kitty has no home and s(he) doesn't feel missed!_  
_Meow! Meow! Don't worry my little Carla(Happy) 'cause I will be there for you.__  
_And even when you feel alone you always remember this!__  
_Meow. Meow. Now sleep my sweet kitty..."_

The Blue cat sang the lyrics perfectly, except he changed 'she' for 'he' and 'Carla' for 'Happy'. They sang it a few more times before he finally left, and she suddenly felt bittersweet, but not lonely. Erza had always gently forced her to socialise, but Carla had refused. Now, she highly regretted that, but now she knew what it felt like to have a friend. And she even knew his name.

_Happy._

_What a suitable name,_she thought, as she prowled back home with her new favourite gift, the Rose.

**Et Voila! Finalmente oh finito :D (That's Italian for finally finished ;p). Thank you again for reading my rubbish attempt at Grayza xD. And just so you know, I really have been trying to stop making mistakes and even re-reading, but GAAHH! Alas, it might never happen :(. And I'm also going to write another one straight after this :D (So efficient, for once in my life :) ). Hope you guys are doing great and you dream of having dinner with your favourite person ever while I'm just there stalking you and making your date go well (I'll always be your wing-girl ;p). Ciao my adorable chibis xxxxx :3**

**Roxanne~**


	14. Childhood Courage

You'll Be My Raven And I'll Be Your Scarlet

**A/n: Two on the same night! My mind just exploded, you wouldn't even believe xD. Probably the biggest achievement of my life. Thank you again for all your lovely comments and for even reading this thing xD. I know I sound EXTREMELY cliché right now, but you guys literally make me the happiest human being for even reading this, even if you clicked this accidentally and were like "Nooo! I meant to click on the other thing, stupid mouse!" and then you read it out of slightly mild interest :p. Hope you guys are doing amazing and if not, here's a hug and don't worry, I'm there for you virtually and stalking you in your dreams ~*^-^*~ (that didn't sound creepy at all... ;p). And btw, this is more into the main story, although I don't even know what the main story is anymore tbh xD. Lego!**

**Chapter XIV: Childhood Courage**

"Excuse me miss, are you awake?" She was gently woken from her slumber. She gazed up to see a flash of Salmon hair. She looked in his eyes and recognition registered in his as well. Time stilled for what seemed like decades. Was she dreaming? Was this real? There was only one person with that shade of Salmon that she knew, and before stopping herself she whispered, "Natsu..."

Natsu stared at Mirajane for what seemed like an eternity before suddenly hugging her. He was crying saying things like, "I've missed you Mira," and, "Oh gosh, oh gosh," and Mira loosely hugged him, extremely surprised and still shocked. She had honestly expected the opposite reaction from Natsu. She had been so cruel to him, and yet he was there hugging her and being so kind. After still being speechless for so long, Natsu pulled away from the hug, worried for his oneechan. She finally snapped out of it after seeing his worried expression and said, "Sit down for a moment Natsu." She had a small, beautiful smile but it looked sad and thoughtful.

Natsu sat and gave her a large, adorable smile while asking her, "How've ya been Mira?" She smiled at how much more happy he seemed than when she last saw him and said, "I've been good thanks, Natsu." Natsu just nodded with a beaming smile, pleased with her answer. Before he could ask her millions of other questions, she quickly intercepted by saying, "Natsu please listen to what I have to say without saying anything. I have been building up these feelings and memories so long that I really need to tell you now before you slip away and disappear from my life again."  
Natsu instantly became less hyper and more calm, ready to listen to his long lost best friend. After all, he also had to say a few things to her, and the train ride would take at least three hours.

Mirajane squeezed her fists into tight balls before starting. She knew that if she didn't explain now, she would probably break down crying and not stop until the end of the train ride. She already felt the prickle of tears trying to break away from her pupils and to fall in a torrent on her cheeks, but thanks to her training as an actor, she quickly silenced them.  
"Natsu, I've been keeping this in my chest for too long, and I just want to explain everything. Remember when you held Lisanna's hand, thinking the light was green, and crossing the road? That's when you two got... hit... And the things that followed..."  
A small tear rolled down her cheek while Natsu was somewhere very distant remembering probably what were the most torturous moments of his entire existence.

_It had been drizzling all day, and it was currently night. Me, Nastu and Lisa where walking back home. Well, I was walking, they were rushing hand in hand. I knew that even though they looked like the most adorable soon-to-be couple in the world, their relationship had to be kept platonic. Lisanna loved him, but she did not have those heartfelt emotions that can make you just want to spend every moment with that special someone.__Natsu had been slowly falling for her, and every time he talked about Lisanna, I could only give him a small, sad, and knowing smile._

_With their hands linked, they looked like the most peaceful children. I didn't want to ruin their moment, so I let them rush a bit forward, keeping them in my sights. If only I could have kept my innocence like them.. I sighed. It had almost been a year since_**_that_**_happened to me. I still had frequent nightmares, but I didn't scream anymore. Everyone thought I was going through my 'adolescent phase', were I just fought with tons of people and picked fights. It actually helped a lot, and that's how I met Natsu. I was picking a fight with some guy when Natsu randomly just pushed him out of the way and said "Fight me!" I just smiled in a patronising way before beating him to a pulp. He had only managed to swing three punches at me, and two had missed. He was bruised and bloodied, yet he still stood up and kept on saying "Fight me!". I complied, and he stopped fighting when he finally became unconscious. The other kids laughed at him and said he was stupid and stubborn, but I found him a great and brave boy. I stayed until he woke up, which was around midnight and I actually gave him a sincere smile and my hand to get up. He smiled too and looked gratefully at my hand before accepting it, and I pulled him up._

_"You know that begging for a fight with me would only end like this, right?" I asked the bleeding boy.__  
_"Yeah, but at least I didn't give up 'til I was down!" He fist pumped the air enthusiastically. I just shook my head at this hopeless case, which turned out to be an adorable nutter. From then on, we fought every day, and every day he would be unconscious for a few hours. Every day, the time he was unconscious for grew less and less until he gained so much stamina he almost beat me one day. When I told Lisanna, she was in disbelief as she thought that I was her undefeatable big sister. I laughed at her goofy face full of disbelief, and invited her to watch a match the next day. I had tried my hardest to impress Lisanna, which caused her to grow pale with wide eyes. For a couple of minutes, I thought I had been winning, but Natsu soon proved me wrong. He punched me in the stomach, which caused me to double over, and he attacked my nose next, which had caused me to howl in pain. He then did a roundhouse kick and I was down in seconds. Lisa had been shocked, and then she screamed and cheered on for the boy with Salmon hair. I had remained on the floor and laughed because I knew that I had lost. I could have gotten up, but I knew he would just K.O. me for the second time. One defeat was enough, I certainly wasn't desperate for another. Then, we started a small business. Anyone who wanted to fight with Natsu had to pay, and they also had to pay to watch 'The Greatest Match in The World!'. I laugh at it now, but it was hilarious and fun at the time. Natsu also got to meet Lisa more, and he instantly liked her because of how bubbly she was, and I approved.__

_There were traffic lights up ahead, but they were stuck on green. The kids quickly glanced at it and ran, still laughing and giggling. What they didn't know was that there are sick human beings who don't even consider that kids are on the road, they just want to rush. While they were in the middle of the zebra crossing, the light suddenly turned red, and all they saw was__white light of a car crashing straight into them. Natsu was petrified and stood still, while Lisa had wanted to protect him, so she pushed him behind her in that split, fatal second. Natsu had managed to survive with a few scrapes and cuts, but my sweet Lisa had gotten so, oh so much worse._

_The doctors said she was in a coma, with half her face permanently scarred and her body covered in large gashes and scars. When I had seen her in that state with my family, I had just broken down and wanted to die. I blamed myself first, saying that I could have prevented it if I had kept a closer eye on them and asked them to stay next to me. Then, I remembered who had gotten the better end of the deal... Natsu._

_And so that's how I had started to blame Natsu. I didn't allow him to visit her, or even get close to our family. At school, I made a poster and printed it, the front__of it saying 'NATSU IS A MURDERER: HE KILLED MY SISTER'. Everyone instantly ignored him and he eventually had to move schools because of the amount of emotional bullying he had received, and eventually stopped going to school. The thing that shocked the most was that he never retaliated, even if__he had the power to silence the bullies. However, that only angered younger me and I made his life living hell by using social media to condemn him to a life of misery._

_One day, Lisanna's stable conditioned worsened, and the doctors told me what happened. I saw Natsu and looked him in the eyes with all the spite I could muster before saying,_

_"SHE'S DEAD! YOU'VE KILLED HER YOU EVIL MONSTER! GO DIE!"_

_I had said that over and over, and he just stood there, ready to cry._

_"DON'T CRY YOU WORTHLESS CUNT! YOU DON'T DESERVE ANYTHING IN THIS WORLD!"_

_I had spoken so harshly to him, and he had run away from my life, never to be seen again.._

"I'm so so sorry Natsu! It wasn't your fault, and I was angry and I ruined your life. Even if you don't forgive me, that's fine. I want to live with the burden, because the amount of pain I caused you. But please let me at least plead and beg for forgiveness." She started crying furiously. He just patted her back as she kept on saying "I'm so sorry..."

"Mira stop." Natsu said firmly. Mirajane looked up to see Natsu's warm features. "Mira, I've moved on and I'm sorry for all the pain I caused you. I hundred percent forgive you, I would have probably done the same. But hey! That's life." His smile became beaming and happy again.  
"So how have you been? I heard you're a model and a news anchor, lucky you! Oh, and an update in my life. Me and Happy are still conjoined twins, and I'm best friends with a girl named Erza, she's cool but crazy, if you know what I mean. Oh! And Gray and I are back to being whatever you would call us, and I'm also going to talk to my friend Luce now... well I'm hoping we will be more than f..."

"Natsu STOP!" Natsu was suddenly interrupted by Mira's distraught face. He searched her face questioningly, waiting for her to say something. She had started to tear up again, and he had rubbed her back soothingly.  
"Natsu I hid something from you... You know when Lisanna was in a critical condition for hours until she finally died?" Natsu nodded, but words could still not formulate from her mouth. After a few minutes, she finally spoke.

"Lisanna isn't dead. She is still alive to this day."

**TADA DONE! And it's a cliffhanger, so I'll give myself a pat on the back (I won't really, I find that very awkward and weird O-O). If you are having a marathon of reading this, have a well deserved break xD. Should have probably written this in chapter ten, but oh well I'm late at everything :p. Stay happy my little chibis and relax with youtube, tumblr, anime, manga or anything else and enjoy tea/coffee/lemonade/OJ etc and biscuits or treats. Don't worry, you won't grow chubbier because I cast a spell on the food to not make you gain any weight ;) (I sound like a bad commercial xD). By the way, I don't even swear in real life at all, even in my head xD, just to make that clear...**

**Roxanne~(^-^)~ Hugs!**


	15. Sorry

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Hey guys, I literally want to cry right now :'( I had written around 3k or 4k in words and then it crashed and I didn't save any of it, so now I have to re-start it all over again :'(. I'll do it, but I wrote for almost 3 hours and I was really proud of it. I'm really sorry guys. And I know people always say, "Why don't you save it regularly?" It's just because I don't want it to remember errors and all that, because when I try to edit little things in never lets me after I save tons of times. I'm really sorry guys :'(. On a happier note, I've written 50k... WHAT UP LIFE ACHIEVEMENT! :D I also usually reply to people via PM, but two guests replied and I can't reply back, so here are my replies :D****  
****  
Heya sissy! Arigato for your comments and I'm glad you approve the chibi :) Next time though, please reply as a guest and not my account, I sound creepy just reviewing my own story xD.****  
****  
Jen: Heya Jen, thank you so so much! :D I'm so glad you like my story and I hope you like the next few instalments as well. And thank you so much for saying Happy belated Birthday, you don't know how nice it feels to be remembered :D Like, imagine if some of your favourite people were not born today O-O.. MIND BLOWN!****  
****I'll see myself out and enjoy this chapter... Hopefully it will be better than the one I wrote before, because my spirit is literally shattered :'(...**

**Chapter XV: Sorry**

**Hospital 17:25**

Erza was sitting up in bed, looking like a hot mess compared to her usual apparel. Her hair was tousled all over the place and she had bags under her eyes while her clothes fell off her shoulders. She knew she had been mean and unfair to Gray, but it wasn't like she did it on purpose. She knew 100% that no human's secrets were in any way bigger or more important than any other persons, yet she had displayed that anyway. It had been almost a week since Gray had been there, and she knew that he wasn't planning on coming back any time soon.

Why had she been like that? She had always been defensive about herself, especially her past. But he had shared so much with her. During the few weeks he had visited her, she had always enjoyed him being next to her, taking care of her and just being there for her. He was one of the few people that knew about her long kept secret, yet he had accepted it with open arms and even accepted her. Just because she had hid that secret from him, he had still acted like his usual self (_a jerk_) while still making her laugh and scold him. The days they had spent together had probably been the most fun and memorable ones that she could remember.

And now he was gone. He had looked so hurt and in pain as he had left. She had felt bad all this time, barely eating or doing anything other than sleep and wake up. In her dreams, she saw him, when she was awake, she expected to see his devilish smirk come from the door and laugh together with her again. However, Erza knew he wasn't that type of guy to forgive so easily. She also held grudges long, but she knew that this grudge could not continue as it was solely her fault. Gray had even been kind enough to tell her about his past and his most painful demons.

Erza just couldn't forgive herself, even though she knew she wasn't being selfish. Trusting people was hard for her, but Gray had trusted her with one of his biggest and most important secrets, when she had barely even revealed one. She felt her eyes prickle and her brain slow down as she saw the memory of him and her together...

_Gray and I had been doing our usual thing, him combing my hair lightly while I just hummed, dangling my legs on the side of the bed. I had discovered a few days ago just how good of a hairdresser Gray was, and every day as a routine he would comb my hair for hours, gently brushing my tangled hair. I relaxed every time as he made jokes and told me little anecdotes, which I replied with by giving him small giggles or scolding him for being inappropriate. It was one of those days again and I felt his cool breath near my neck while he spoke to me in his deep, rugged voice._

_When he accidentally touched my neck for the millionth time, he said sorry again, and I wondered why his hands were always cold. While mine were usually warm or even hot, his always seemed like the touch of winter. I took comfort in that idea every single time because it reminded me that I was like the yin to his yang. If it was cold, I could warm him up and when I was too hot, he could make me cooler. The idea of our body heat constantly changing just because of how close we were comforted me, and I felt like we were becoming closer. I remembered when we first met and how I had held his hand and how it had been so cold when he had cried during his nightmare. The curiosity in me grew, and I finally took it upon myself to ask him,_

_"Gray?"__  
__"Hmn?" He hummed softly.__  
__"What was the nightmare you had when we were in that prison cell?" The word prison cell made me involuntarily shiver, because I knew that I never wanted to go back there again. As soon as I asked that question, I felt Gray's gentle hands stop combing my hair, so I grew worried. I turned around to see Gray's face scrunched up and crumbling, his eyes glazed over. I immediately jumped on him and gave him a tight hug before saying, "Gray, you don't have to tell me I'm really sorry please forgive me. I don't want to see you cry, so please smile, I'm sorry Gray okay?"_

_I felt him nod and we stayed like that for a few minutes. Eventually, he pulled away from the hug and I immediately missed his cool presence that had also enveloped me in an embrace. His eyes were still glazed over, but he lied down on the bed, his arm behind his head, and stared at the ceiling. Following his lead, I also plopped myself lightly on the bed, waiting for him either to say nothing or say something. I faced him, trying to decipher his different facial expressions before he finally allowed himself to speak,_

_"I'm sorry Erza for not telling you before, but it was kind of.. personal. Before you say anything, I want to tell you about it... It was a nightmare about my mother... no, my adoptive mother... Her name was Ul, and she was beautiful.. no an.. an angel. She was the most important woman in my life, yet she had to die when I was young..." Gray stopped all of a sudden, and I was there facing him, shocked that such an amazing sounding person that had made Gray happy could be gone from the world. His eyes were now closed to stop the oncoming tears, and I just patiently waited for him to continue. After a few minutes, he began again,_

_"I had previously lost my parents in a plane crash, so I suddenly became an orphan. I had no other living relatives close by, so the adoption agency took me to a care home. It was horrible there, so fucking horrible, and the kids there were all little horrible punks that either bullied me or ignored me. I could have cared less about that place, so I went to the care home gates to find a beautiful mansion right next door. Unlike the care home, the mansion seemed to be always covered in snow. Ever since I was little, I remember living in a hot sunny place which I hated, so I had never really seen snow. One day, I jumped over the fence and I played in the snow for a couple of hours. That soon became my new routine until Ul found me. She had longer hair at the time and she had been so beautiful to me. When she asked me what I was doing, I was stuttering all over the place like an illiterate little shit. You should've been there, you would've been so pissed at me. She helped me build a snow man, and we had played all day. The next day, Lyon was there too. I had hated him from the moment I had met him, and he would always challenge me to stupid fucking games like who could stay in the freezing cold in their underwear the longest, and Ul joined too." At the memories, Gray re-opened his eyes to smile at the ceiling. Seeing him smile had also made me break into a grin._

_"Ultear was Ul's daughter, and she sometimes came too, but she didn't play as much because she found it 'childish'. Lyon however was her adoptive son, and he had been in the care home a few days before I had arrived. While we played, Ul's husband, now her ex, always shouted at us kids for being noisy or childish. One day, Ul had been treating a wound I had during a snow ball fight. Her husband suddenly came in and he started shouting at her, and she started screaming back at him. After the fight continued on for a long time, I just curled up in a ball and stared crying while covering my ears to drown out the fight. Ul instantly noticed and stopped the fight, and she gently removed my hands from my ears and caressed my cheek with the back of her hand, as if to say 'sorry'. I smiled at her and it all seemed okay, until her husband went up to her slapped her hard on her face. I was horrified, but she just held back her tears before picking me up and carrying me to her bedroom. There, we cried and Lyon and Ultear soon joined. Me and Lyon tried to convince Ul to leave her husband, but Ultear loved both her parents and didn't want to see them separated. The next day, she followed our advice and left him, and she also adopted me, thanks to that fucking stupid agency. They hated me and wanted to get rid of me, but at least I was grateful that they gave me a great mother. We moved to a house close to the mountains and we were happy there, all four of us together. Ultear didn't like it there much because it was cold and it was a small house, so Ul and Ultear agreed she could go back to her father. Those memories were the happiest in the world for us, until she died..."_

_Gray paused again, scrunching up his face in pain and squeezing his fists tightly, as if he had some pent up anger. I instantly touched his fist gently to let him know that I was there, and he continued on to the final instalment of his story,__  
__"I killed Ul.. I know I did. I don't remember how it happened because I have... Amnesia. Everything that happened that night is erased from my memory, but the strong guilt and hatred I felt was enough to let me know that it was all my fault... I had killed Ul.."_

_I hugged Gray so tightly in that moment that I may have almost suffocated him, but I didn't care. He had been feeling like this for who knows how long, and I knew 100% that Gray could never have killed Ul, seeing how much he cared for her,__  
__"I promise that I will find who killed Ul! Don't you even dare think that you are capable of murdering someone, because you are one of the most loving and caring people I have ever know in my entire life! I only want to see your smile, so don't be sad because I promise you that even if it takes a million lives, I will find out who killed her and you will know that you have been feeling someone else's guilt and that you are innocent!" Tears were now streaming down my eyes, and I felt him push me back a little to give me a sad smile before continuing with the hug. His smile told me that he probably did not believe me in any way, but I still wanted to try. We fell asleep hugging each other, and while I was unconscious I had felt him leave my side. I had woken up with tears streaking my face._

She forced herself to get up, overcome by the memories. Thanks to the lack of movement, her legs buckled as soon as they hit the floor, causing her to hang on for dear life on to the bed. After she regained some sort of balance, she stumbled around, hoping she could at least say the words that needed to be said:

'Sorry'

* * *

**Juvia's room 3:45 pm - About a week ago, week ago ;p**

Juvia was tormented and frustrated. She knew that whatever happened at the Coffee shop, it had been about her. She had seen the way the Brunette had looked at her while talking in a hushed tone to Lyon, and Lyon had barely even taken a glance at her before running away. She needed to talk to him to say Sorry, and staying in her bedroom was doing nothing for her. She quickly urged herself to get up with new determination before changing into a white, flowy crop top with tears as patterns and some navy skinny jeans with white short boots with fur inside. Pleased with her look, she speed walked out of her house in a rush with an umbrella, as she knew that wherever she went, rain would always follow. As she walked, she enjoyed the sound of the rain dripping as her music, instead of the usual _effing horrible generic pop music _**(Don't hate me pop music, I love you ~.~ .. I also love all types of music but that's not important xD...)**

As she saw the blue door of Lyon's house, she grew more excited and walked even faster. She skidded to a stop as she saw a figure next to the door. It was the Brunette. She was slouching and she had a short, puffy, bright orange jacket with some white skinny jeans and long black heels. Juvia saw she was crying, yet the only thoughts that could formulate from that were,_ How dare you take comfort in Juvia's rain and even DARE cry with Juvia's rain! _The rain seemed to get fiercer, as if they heard her malicious thoughts.

The door opened to show a flash of White hair and Lyon wearing plaid pyjama bottoms and a black shirt. He had been previously rubbing his eyes sleepily, as if he had just woken up before seeing the crying Brunette. He then quickly pulled her in a hug. Before knowing what she was doing, Juvia's feet were slowly moving backwards before quickly rushing in a sprint.

As she halted suddenly, she realised that tears were falling on her cheeks mixed with the rain falling all over her. She didn't know why that Brunette made her so angry, or who she even liked anymore. "RAIN! JUVIA HATES YOU, YOU ARE A FRICKIN JERK! DO YOU KNOW HOW SICK I AM OF YOU?! ALL OF JUVIA'S CLOTHES ARE WET AND NOW JUVIA DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHY SHE CARES SO MUCH ABOUT LYON, WHEN YOU TOLD JUVIA TO GO FOR GRAY!"

People slowly backed away from the crazy girl, because whatever shit she was getting through was none of their beeswax. **(No. 1 fact of life, back away from the crazy people... Unless they are nice and not serial killers :D). **Juvia had only hated rain once before, and that was her childhood, when she had been lonely and everyone had called her crazy and creepy for liking rain and talking to the rain. She had only started liking the rain when it had actually helped her make friends,

_Juvia was sitting on a chair outside on that cold day, because the rain was pouring again. Juvia chose to ignore it because she did not want to talk to the rain, after a couple of kids had called her weird again. She didn't have an umbrella because she had forgotten it at home, so she paid the price of getting soaked. A shadow was in the distance, but Juvia chose to ignore it because the rain usually played tricks on her. The shadow came even closer until she couldn't feel any more rain on her head. She looked up to see a boy with White hair holding an umbrella for her and asking her to come inside. He had held her hand and made her meet her lifelong friends like Lucy, Mirajane and so many more._

Juvia recalled that memory, wandering still who that boy had been. The next day, her parents had transferred her to another school, so while she had kept her current friends' numbers, she still wondered who her first crush was. However, one thing in her mind was finally cleared up. She knew why she was acting this way...

_Juvia is in love with Lyon._

* * *

**Gray's Chalet - Close to midnight**

Gray was sitting on a wooden chair inside his cosy chalet. He remembered building it with Ul and Lyon, and how happy those times had been. Even though their house was also nice and was near the mountains, this chalet allowed him to be at the heart of the mountains where there was tons of snow. Staying here helped him relax and be at one with ice, his favourite element. He felt bad about ignoring Erza, but he knew that she would probably never learn her lesson. If she wanted to keep secrets, it was fine by him because he would also keep his secrets.

A loud, insistent knocking came from the door, which surprised Gray as only Lyon knew about the chalet. He opened the door to find Erza Scarlet in her hospital gown absolutely freezing to her death. He pulled her in a hug before slamming the door shut, extremely worried for the Titania. Without even asking any questions, he started giving her extra layers of clothes and making hot chocolate, but he was abruptly stopped by her holding his wrist. He looked at her questioningly, and she just motioned for him to sit down. He followed her orders, and she smiled very slightly before beginning to speak,

"The r..r..re...ree..reason t..t..that..I..d..d..do..don't tell you about myself is because I'm scared of what you'll think of me... I d..d..d..do..don't want you to judge me and I'm Sorry for hiding things from you. Y..y..you want to know how I got that thing on my back right? Well listen up. I won't tell you much now, but long story short I used to be friends with Ultear. She knew about my 'condition' and we met at the hospital, a little before I could leave. I'll tell you more about our strange 'friendship', but the only thing you need to know is that her and her friends nearly tried to drown me in a lake, and when I resurfaced, they took a knife to make me go back in there and I refused, so Ultear jokingly sliced the air, but I was falling inside the lake so I went backwards, and she slashed me. I didn't tell anyone, so are you happy now?" Erza finished with a puff of air. The memory had terrorised her so much before that now, it was just a memory that didn't have any effect on her.

Gray looked absolutely gobsmacked and hugged her again. Erza felt glad that she could get rid of the secret, because it had made her let go of that pain. But Gray was less than happy...

His biggest secret involved Ultear in a BIG way, and he didn't know whether he could go through with it...

**And done, after re-writing this. I want to cry but I'll be here just hoping you guys have had a good day and are feeling well. Stay well my little chibis and I hope you dream of having powers like everyone in Fairy Tail and getting to beat your favourite character while I just hum extremely loudly in the background the epic battle music.**

**Roxanne ~(*^-^*)~ Hugs!**


	16. Demons

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/n: Heya again guys! Yesterday I was in a pretty bad mood and it only got worse because of life...xD So now I want to update a little earlier to hopefully upload 3 chapters in one day, if everything works out for the best :D Hope you amazing people all had good days and that you feel well, and if you don't feel that great, you can just fall asleep and I'll use my magical powers to cure you as you sleep (make sure to take medicine and/or ice cream and cookies or whatever you eat when you feel depressed). And also, hugs! ~(*^-^*)~. Oh and one more thing before I forget, I never really knew what warnings were about, until I finally realised with my insensitive brain x3 I'm sorry. The obvious warnings are: Cancer, Aggressive fighting later on( cause it's Fairy Tail :p) and tons of swearing and maybe self-body issues. This story is kinda turning really sad for some reason O-O... and this chapter will probably be one of the more sadder ones, sowwy :(. At least you know you are allowed to have tissues next to you in this story. One more thing, I'll stop writing disclaimers because we all know I don't own anything other than the story plot and trigger warnings will be put before it happens, not here where you can guess and I feel that just ruins the story line, so you can just skip those parts if you need to :) And another thing, the title is too long to fit on the chapter showing thing, so I changed it xD. This is way too long O-O... Enjoy :D!**

**Chapter XVI: Where Did All The Good Go**

**News Station- 5am A day before meeting Natsu**

**(You should probably listen to Demons on replay while reading this :). It's such an amazing song xD. That's what I'm doing anyway xD...and you can also listen to it as nightcore here - watch?v=bOpLs6qfYoI [just copy and paste, links don't work :)]**

Mirajane had had to stay up for over thirteen hours as there had been a strike again from her fellow news presenters, which meant that she was the only one available to deliver the news. Mirajane had accepted it because she had needed a distraction. The nightmares were returning, and they had even allowed her to scream out. She had suppressed the memories for so long, yet they were making a reappearance. _Why? Why now? _She was exhausted, but even the makeup could not conceal just how tired she was. "Why don't you sleep Mira? After all, your shift is finished." As much as she had wanted to disagree, she felt like she was about to collapse at any moment. Her vision blurred and she stumbled to the green room, where a comfy sofa lay there waiting to engulf her. Instead of sleeping right off the bat, she kept her eyes wide open and chanted, _Please nightmares don't come, leave me alone, please nightmares don't come, stay away from me._

However, the nightmares were not so caring...

**_WARNING: Rape :'(_**

_I'm at that street again... Oh great. Maybe if I walk in the other direction, I can find my way back home? _No! Don't go! please... **(Past Mira's thoughts are in italic, while Mira reliving the nightmare as a third person is in normal writing) **_I could ask those people? But they all look scary, huddled in a group like that... Maybe I should keep walking. Why is that man staring at me? Oh no! I caught his eye, better hide my eyes in my fringe. These people don't look very friendly, I should just walk.._ Run! Run as fast as you can! Please don't look back... _I look back, and that guy is still staring at me, what a creep! I better walk, it's really not safe staying here. What a stupid dare I did with Elfman and Lisa. They didn't even tell me to go this far, just two steps. But they can sometimes be such wusses! It's funny that everyone thinks I'm just a sweet older sister, but I do care for my siblings._

_Oh! There's a pet shop over there. Maybe I can buy Elfman a parakeet or a bird or something, and Lisa could probably share. _Don't go in there, you will be trapped!... _I can see the selection of animals, and they all look so incredibly adorable, even though this pet shop is in a shady area. Aww! It's a little kitty. She's so pretty, I can't believe she's unwanted. She has such soft White fur... maybe I can free her. Not buy her, as kittens are too expensive, but free her so she can find her owner. I think that the name that suits her the most is... Carla. Yes, Carla! She has a collar, so I'll write a little note to the owner._

_'Hey! My name is Carla and I have been freed from a seedy pet shop. I'm really pretty and have soft fur, but I will only trust you if you care for me well. I am going to become a vagabond cat, because my sick owner left me. I won't annoy you in any way, so please take care of me.'__  
__There, done! Carla seems to sleep with a frown on her face, so she is probably a very serious kitten. And look what we have here, a Blue kitten! Aww, he's snuggling up to her! They are so cute! He also has soft fur, but he isn't serious at all. He is constantly moving in his sleep and he's pulling so many different facial expressions. Aww! I want to free him too, so I quickly take another piece of paper and pen from my pocket._

_'Meow! My name is... you choose, but I'm sure you will know what it is as soon as you see my face. I am a Blue kitten, so I'm unique and special, Aye Sir! I like playing and I have tons of silly thoughts, but my number. 1 favourite thing in the world is fish. Feed me fish and you and me are soul mates, I guarantee that! I like playing, so don't make me bored. A boring life is a life not worth living, so let's chase dogs and be wild and crazy and fun!'__  
__After finishing the two introduction thingies, I quickly put them in their collars, making sure that it goes to the corresponding cat. Suddenly, I feel a looming presence behind me. I turn around to find a large woman with a wide smile looking at me._

_"Can I help you? I'm the owner of this pet shop." _Tell her you're lost!  
_"Oh yes, do you know where the parakeet section is, or just any type of bird really?" I ask nervously, hoping she didn't notice what I just did.__  
__"Just on the far side, dear."__  
__"Thank you!" I give a warm smile to her, still sad that she will know that I stole her kittens and freed them, since she seems like such a nice person. But the thing is, the little kittens don't look happy, so they probably don't want to live like this, right? As soon as she turns around, I poke the two kittens gently, and while Carla wakes up, the other one stirs and then goes back to sleep. Impatiently I poke him again, hoping he will wake up this time. He does, and I smile gratefully at both of them. They are both just looking at me in confusion, but I don't have that much time left. I quickly place them on the floor and tell them to go through the ajar door. They listen, and I wave goodbye to the kittens. Somehow, I feel like we will meet again. I walk to the far corner, and see all different types of birds. I try to make a conversation with a parrot, and even try to get it to say a few rude words, which it does not say. The parrot was probably well educated. I giggle to myself._

_"Hey missy, what are ya doing here?" **RUN! **A tall man with a deep voice calls at me. I want to ignore him, but my parents said that it's rude to be rude to strangers, especially adults.__  
__"I'm trying to find a bird for my brother and sister," I whisper with my head down.__  
__"Oh really?" He says with a creepy smile on his face. **STAY AWAY FROM HIM! RUN! PLEASE! please...**_**_  
_**_"Well, how about I show you a better pet shop then?" My eyes light up instantly. Maybe they have cheaper animals? I didn't carry a lot of money with me today.__  
__"Yes please!" I say gratefully._

_We walked and walked, but it was just becoming darker and I didn't see any more shops. There was only an alleyway. I kept on staring at the man, because he was not talking to me or being friendly in any way. Why did I even follow him? I start to worry, but I look back and I know that I will just get lost. Why didn't I bring a cell phone? My palms start sweating and we finally stop...__  
__We are in the middle of nowhere. Two walls closing in on me. Breathe. Breathe. Calm down... It's okay. Breathe.._

_He suddenly pushes me on the wall. **NO. LEAVE ME ALONE! DON'T TOUCH ME YOU FILTHY BASTARD!...**_

_He starts slobbering his lips all over my neck while holding on to my wrists tightly. I try to push him back or kick him in the groin, but he's too strong. **GET OFF ME! FIGHT HARDER, PLEASE FIGHT HARDER!**_

_He starts to take of my clothes in a rush... **NO!**_

_He's done... I feel dirty.. It's so cold.. I'm so alone.. Mummy?... Daddy?... Lisa?... Elfman?... Why is it so painful?... *sobs*... It's so painful... It burns.. I feel disgusting... Someone, help me..._

Mirajane wakes up with a scream and a cold shiver down her spine. The green room is soundproof, so she screams and cries violently for a long time before she curls up in a ball to hug herself to sleep all alone.

This time, the nightmares have mercy on her and allow her to have a dreamless sleep...

* * *

**Gray's Chalet - An hour after previous chapter**

Gray was soundly asleep next to Erza, as there was only one bed in the chalet. As Gray's body temperature was always cold, and Erza was currently still freezing to death, they were currently not touching. Erza minded a bit for some reason, but took comfort in looking at his face. Tomorrow they would release her from the hospital, allowing her to go to school and catch up with everyone. As attendance was key to Erza, she had requested work for all the lessons she would miss. This left the illusion that she had been at school, so she could get 100% attendance.

As he breathed out, a small cloud of mist would form and it entranced Erza until she also fell asleep. She had a dream, but it was more like a fragment of her memory from long ago. It wasn't something forgotten or repressed, it was just the start of Erza's losing battle.

_I was sleeping on my bed, too sick to get up. Every day, daddy and mummy would come into my bedroom and cry for hours. Instead of being awake, I faked being asleep because they always gave me fake smiles or tried to cover up that they had been crying. One day, I was sick of it, so I waited for them to arrive fully awake and sitting up on my bed, even though every part of my body ached. They both looked startled at seeing me awake, but I just stared at them intensely, ignoring the pain. I waited for them to sit down, and I could see the determination in their faces. They both knew I wasn't stupid, and they had to eventually tell me what my illness was and whether it could be fatal._

_"Sweetie, we have something important we want to tell you," my mother started, looking scared yet determined. I just nodded, to signal that she could continue without me interrupted.__  
__"You know how you have been feeling sick all your life? Well, it isn't a bug or anything on that scale." I raised by eyebrows, biting my lip to stop words from tumbling down.__  
__My mother then started bawling, and I knew that she wouldn't be able to say the truth to me, so I turned to my father, expectant. He took the hint and took a deep breath in before allowing himself to speak, tears already falling down his pale cheeks.__  
__"Erza... you have cancer... And the doctors have no clue what it is or how to treat it.."_

_I gasped, shocked. I knew I was sick, but not that terminally ill! I already knew what cancer was, after all, I wasn't a dumb child. I started to hyperventilate because I was going through an existential crisis. I saw black blotches in my vision and I felt completely worthless. I would die, and nothing I dreamed of could be completed. I had lived in the hospital all my life, and it looked like it was going to be my death bed. I didn't want to live this meaningless life and do nothing! I started having all these horrible thoughts about death and how it was inevitable, and how I had no clue about life after death or if humans really only had one life..._

_Before I knew it, I had fainted and my condition had worsened up by a notch. I was carried to ER while the doctors looked at me with lost hope and worry while my parents cried. Somehow, the operation had been a success and I was breathing through a gas mask while my parents were holding both my hands. I didn't want to die, but I guess no one wants to die. That day, I made my parents promise me something,_

_"Mum, Dad?"__  
__"Yes sweetie?" My dad replied in unison with my mum._

_"Promise me this. Whatever dreams I have, I want to accomplish them before I die. I want to live a fulfilling life, so I hope I can have that. And when I do die, please do not dwell on that fact and just think that I lived my life doing what I wanted, okay? Move on with your lives and remember that I'll watch over you from wherever I will go."_

_With tear streaked faces, they agreed. _Still to this day, Erza was breaking that promise. And she knew the only person who would make her snap out of it to follow her dream...

"Gray," she mumbled in her sleep. Gray woke up at the mention of his name, and smiled. He had promised her that he would give her a beautiful dream, so he knew exactly what to do. He slowly got up and started planning, making sure not to stir the Scarlet haired maiden, as the Raven haired teen had wanted it to be special for her.

**And done! :D It was so sad and uncomfortable writing the rape scene :'(... This emoji doesn't even express how tortured I feel. If you've gone through stuff, even if it isn't as serious as rape, it doesn't matter! All sadness is important, so make sure to tell someone. Not a teacher (cause what would they do? -.-) Unless you know them personally, but someone like your parents, grandparents, best friends, sibling, anyone you trust. They will try to help because they love you :). And I'm here too, kinda like an agony aunt, so massive hugs again my little chibis ~(*^-^*)~**

**Roxanne xxxxx**


	17. Classic 6

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/n: Heya guys, another chapter on the same day again! :D. I'm feeling inspired I guess, like a Sim :p. So I've noticed that my story is now just really depressing, but I already planned this story a few days ago like I told you, and luckily my past self wanted to also add banter and fun, yay! :D And also, I noticed that the story is called 'Be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet', but in the last few chapters I've been calling it 'You'll Be my Raven and I'll be Your Scarlet' xD. Sorry to confuse you, it's just that I made a song about this and it has the 'You'll', so that's how it popped up xD. Tell me which title you prefer, because I just realised now how much I must have confused you guys xD. Confused hugs ~(*^-^*)~! Le-go! ;p**

**Chapter XVII: Classic 6 - Part I**

**or you can read the title as: Class(six) ... Clever me ^;^**

**Fairy Tail High School 6 am**

We finally return to Fairy Tail high school, where most of the drama was supposed to happen, but the story took necessary twists and turns. Also, guess who's back? Your favourite comedian, **ME! (See, I told you I was returning :D, Miss me? Duh, of course you did ;p. Come for the story, stay for the author :D Unless you hate these parts and want me to stop... I'll shush now :D).**

The Fairy Tail Student Council have all been asked to come back to plan for the official re-opening of all the three schools, as the building process has nearly been completed. However, there is a slight twist to the normal meeting. Firstly, let's **subtly stalk **Erza, our cancer survivor! She fought a hard battle, but she was finally stable and allowed to go back to school. Unlike what you might have thought, Erza and Gray are not together. After she had fallen asleep, he had left an alarm and a note in the chalet saying just one word, 'Wait'. Erza of course had been instantly furious with him and wanted to ignore him for as long as possible. Instead, she talked to Lucy, her new friend.

"Erza... I have a confession," said the Blonde shyly. Erza gave her a reassuring smile and nodded, urging her on to talk.  
"I'm in love with Natsu, but I don't know if he likes me that way and I don't want to ruin our friendship. I mean, he's so sweet, and I don't want it to be awkward around him, but I'm also being threatened to not talk to him, so I was wondering whether I should risk it or I should deal with the stupid dick that is trying to make me not confess to Natsu. I haven't seen Natsu in ages and I don't even know if he came to school today. I heard from my friend Mirajane that she saw him heading on a train, and he wanted to see me but I haven't seen him or heard a word from him and I never really know what's on his mind. Help?"  
After saying all that in one breath, Erza grew extremely impressed. The Scarlet haired girl giggled, which made Lucy raise an eyebrow. _Am I really that much of a hopeless case?_ Her face fell, and Erza realised and patted her shoulder lightly. Lucy didn't know about Erza's condition, and so problems like love seemed so easy to solve compared to the thought of _death._

"Lucy, you know what to do. You love him, and me and Gray had been betting how long it would take for you to finally tell one of us, because of how obvious it was. You love him, so first deal with the problem of that person threatening you. You have waited this long to talk to him, so now you can wait a bit longer and then confess, so you know what to say and you can prepare and be ready for any situation." Lucy gazed with admiration at the younger, taller girl. She was right! Lucy had waited this long, and she didn't want to lose anyone important to her, so dealing with the person who was threatening her was her biggest priority. After that, she could finally display her feelings of affection for Natsu. She heard Erza mumble in a low voice, "Now Gray has to buy me a strawberry cheesecake," while looking like the most adorable human alive with that sweet, childish smile.

"Erza, we still have some time before the student council meeting, do you want to go to the cake shop?" Without meaning to, the Blonde had made the Scarlet haired teenager jump up in glee to be pulled in a suffocating hug. "Thank you so much Lucy! I now know why Gray is best friends with you!" This made Lucy happy that Erza, such a popular, well respected person wanted to even talk to her and even become friends with her. She hoped they could soon become best friends and share more memories together. After all, her life was looking up. She was about to confess to the guy she liked, she only had two more years before she could leave her father, and she had made an amazing best friend. As they walked to the cake shop, Lucy and Erza talked about the different types of cake, specifically on the taste, aesthetics and ratings they would give them. They were both from well- off families, so it was no surprise that they both had the same refined pallet **(Unlike my own, which will eat almost anything :D. But then again, who wants to always be picky at life? There's too much hunger to worry about stuff like if it's nice or not, while others beg for things we say we hate... Why am I being so deep? O-O)**

When they had arrived, they saw that it was a petite little cake shop with a cute 3D cake. They both entered and were pleased by the different vibrant cake decorations. Lucy ordered coffee and a chocolate cake while Erza ordered tea and a strawberry cheesecake. While Erza ate her food with gusto, Lucy got her laptop out to write her blog while updating the school newspaper. She loved writing, and wanted to write her biography when she knew she was ready. She was currently writing a novel, and it was for her mother. She smiled fondly at the ceiling before continuing writing. Erza was impressed at the quality of the food, until she realised what the time was. "Shoot! Lucy, we'll be late, hurry!" Lucy had been enjoying herself so much that she had completely forgotten to look at the time. Without trying to look at the time, Erza and her dragged each other while running to get there on time. **What Erza didn't realise was that she had made her clock go around 20 minutes forward, and the definition of 'late' to Erza was at least 10 minutes. The walk only took five minutes, so they would have to wait 25 minutes thanks to Erza always wanting to be early -.- Smh Erza...Smh -.-'**

* * *

**Car park - Same time**

Now it's time to not **creepily stalk **Gajeel and Juvia. Gajeel and Juvia had always been extremely close friends, but their friendship was being severely tested by their parents. Every opportunity they had, they would make them 'accidentally meet' and force them to hang out for at least two hours, even though they always hanged out anyway in their free time. Their parents just could not accept that they did not want to marry each other, so they needed to plan something drastic. Juvia was also in a bad mood because she had realised her feelings for Lyon, and she was forced to accept them. However, that also meant that she had to compete with whoever that Brunette was, and that meant that she was at a disadvantage. He clearly listened to her because as soon as words had come out of her mouth, he had believed them instantly. This lead to Juvia's heart aching painfully, but she had to focus on getting rid of the engagement. She greeted her best friend in his massive car with a hug, and he reciprocated, grateful to see her familiar face.

"So Juvia, let's get down to business!" Gajeel screamed, excited at the thought of finally ending the engagement.  
"Let's do it! Juvia and Gajeel are ready!" said Juvia just as enthusiastically. Gajeel laughed loudly at his best friend who still talked in third person. At this, she just giggled along with him. "Well Juvia, I have two plans, and I assume you have one, correct?" she nodded, excited to voice her idea. It was perfect, amazing, and would totally work 100%. **Get ready to be amazed guys -.-' (And the Miss Sarcasm award goes to... Me! Thank you, thank you :D. I would like to thank my family, I don't have friends so let's skip that and.. that's it :D Oh and all you guys who read this, because I probably wouldn't be motivated to write xD).**

"Okay I know you have a girlfriend, Levi-chan right?" Gajeel smiled at the thought of her.  
"So I was thinking, as I also have a boyfriend... we should say that me and Levi are both pregnant! It would be perfect and out parents couldn't force us two to marry." **Slow clap for Juvia -/-, she needs it...****  
**Gajeel was silent for a couple of seconds, shocked at his friend's completely...

**STUPID IDEA!**

"Juvia are you crazy?! That would only work for like, three months before they notice that both your tummies haven't grown one bit! And what about Ultrasound? You can't fake that!" He slammed his fist on the steering wheel, frustrated that his ideas may not even be good. He had been solely depending on her 'brilliant' idea. She started pouting, sad that he had rejected her idea so quickly. He saw this and patted her on the head after he calmed down. He sighed and said, "Well, my ideas aren't that great either, but let's see what you think, a'right?" She nodded, a ghost of a smile back on her face.

"So we can either pretend to run away and hide in one of our friend's houses until they agree to call off the wedding and.." Juvia swiftly interrupted him, knowing that plan was already scrapped, "Our parents are influential, they would find out right away where we are hiding. They also know us too well because we always tell them our secrets, so they would know who our friends are right off the bat. Moreover, they can check Juvia and Gajeel's passport record and know if Juvia and Gajeel travelled. It wouldn't work out at all. And if we actually did run away, they would kill us.." she ended thoughtfully while shaking her head. She quickly stopped shaking her head when she saw how angry he was becoming. Even though they knew each other for ages and would never hurt each other, he was still scary and a cruel, ruthless fighter.

"Okay fine, that idea's gone. Next one is that we say that we kill ourselves if we don't annul the marriage, kind of like a reverse Romeo and Juliet..." Juvia interrupted him again, completely against that idea.  
"If we say that to them, we will be disowned in a flash!"  
"But isn't that a good thing?" questioned Gajeel. "We could follow our own rules and marry who we want!" He started to laugh at his 'brilliant' idea. Juvia stared at him intently for a few seconds before sighing and shaking her head.  
"You do know what disowned means, right Gajeel?" she queried.  
"Not really..." He said, unsure. Juvia sighed again before saying,  
"It means that you won't be the heir of your family, you will never have any connection to your parents and you will be poor as dirt."

...

"Oh.."

"Oh, you can say that again! Gah! What's the point!? Can't we get fake married and then marry with the actual people we want to?"  
"That would be a great idea if there was a way of getting fake married!" Gajeel interjected, clearly stressed. Then, Juvia had another idea.  
"Hey, what if Juvia talks to Ultear? She is smart, so she always knows what to do!"  
Gajeel shrugged before saying, "It's worth a try, right?"

Juvia called Ultear and surprisingly, she picked up, "What's up?"  
"The car roof, but that's not important right now. Ultear, how can Juvia get out of an unwanted engagement? Please help Juvia!"  
There were a few seconds of silence before she replied and ended the call. Juvia slapped herself on the forehead.  
"What?" Gajeel questioned, confused.

"Why have we never tried just talking to them alone, without any distractions?..."

"Oh..." was all he said.

* * *

**Outside the Student Council Room- Same time too :D**

"Gray/Natsu I NEED YOUR HELP!" They both screamed suddenly at each other. They paused for a moment, confused as to why they were both asking for help from each other.

"Can't whatever you want to do wait Natsu?"

"No ice princess! I really need to do this for her!"

"But I also need to do something for her!"

"Who are you even talking about Gray?!"

"Who are you talking about flame boy?"

"Okay, we say the names after 3..."

... **So much for 0, 1 and 2 #.#. They feel so abandoned xD**

"3!"

"Erza/Lucy!" As they heard each other's best friends being shouted out from the other's mouth, they stared at each other in confusion. They both sat down cross legged, thinking of how to solve their dilemma.

"What if we both help each other out?" Gray said all of a sudden, causing huge grins to befall on both their faces. They high-fived each other before scanning the area, hoping that no one had seen them. But oh yes they had been seen - by the security camera, of course. But that specific camera had been spying on them for a while, before activating a button.

Without warning, both boys were falling down..

and down...

and down..

**A few seconds later :p**

Erza and Lucy had arrived, waiting for the doors to the Student Council room to open. They didn't budge, so they stared at it, willing for it to move. Suddenly, another button was activated and they both fell down..

and down...

and down..

**5 minutes later :3**

Juvia and Gajeel had realised that they would be late if they didn't hurry up for the Student Council meeting, so when they found that no one was there, they were shocked. And then, two other buttons were activated and they both fell down...

and down...

and down..

**And it's a cliffhanger! :D What happened to the Student Council members :o? Find out in part two of the Class(six) :D. Stay happy my adorable little chibis and guess what? Since I had such a bad day yesterday, my sister offered to check for mistakes, yay! :D I'm sick and tired of words right now, so I'll take a ten minute break to read fanfiction :p.**

**Roxanne ~(*^-^*)~ xxxxx**


	18. Classic 6 II

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: and here's part to for all you lovely people :3. I just took a thirty minute break wondering about why my fandoms are amazing yet absolutely insane xD. Hope you guys are feeling happy and you feel loved and get tons of hugs today :D. I'll start this now because I literally have nothing to say other than keep reading and sending all your lovely comments, because you guys make me so happy :D**

**Chapter XVIII: Classic 6**

**or as I cleverly thought of it literally two hours ago Class(six) :p [like a boss ;)]**

**UNDERGROUND: Fairy Tail High School - 7am**

Now, you may be wondering what the hell happened. Well, I am the narrator, so I'll explain as much as I can in a way that won't make you feel like you want to sleep this instant.

**There are 6 buttons, and each button is basically a SC member(if that wasn't more obvious xD). The buttons correspond to the hair colour of each of the students:**

**Scarlet/Red- Erza Scarlet**

**Raven/Lighter Black- Gray Fullbuster**

**Blonde/Yellow- Lucy Heartfilia**

**Salmon/Pink- Natsu Dragneel**

**Black- Gajeel Redfox**

**Blue-Juvia Lockser**

**and now, they are all trapped under Aquarius' control to starve and die. This story ended sadly, but that's just how some stories go...**

**...**

**Okay fine, I trolled you, geez ~.~/ . The story is nowhere near finished xD. But did I scare you a bit? ;p. Anyway, now they are trapped in individual rooms, so they can think on their own instead of always fighting. It's also an interview of themselves and why they shouldn't be kicked out of the Student Council, since they aren't doing much at all :D.**

* * *

**You are the person in charge of the camera. You see the 6 different rooms with the 6 teenagers who look mildly confused. Aquarius is next to you and she will talk in italics to ask the different questions. You have to follow her instructions, or she will eviscerate you. They are sitting in the order of the list above, so do well.**

**Begin.**

_Pan to screen one._

**You pan on Erza Scarlet (clicking the Red button) , and she takes up the whole screen. She seems the calmest out of everyone. Aquarius begins talking on the microphone:**

_Hello Erza. I will just ask you a few questions, but don't you dare ask questions! I'm pissed because I had a date and they said I could take the day off, yet they suddenly needed me for this useless thing..._

_Question 1: What is your favourite food?_

**With a straight face, Erza answers:**

Strawberry Cheesecake

**as if it's the most obvious question in the world ( which it is tbh xD)**

**Aquarius quickly scribbles it down before asking you to go to screen two (You click the Lighter Black button) . You pan to Gray, and now he is filling up the screen. His hair is covering his eyes and he is sitting down slumped with his legs spread wide apart. You see he is breathing really slowly.**

_Get up Gray! Seriously useless..._

**So he was asleep... Aquarius asks him the same question, and the Raven haired boy says:**

I don't really have one.

**Then, Aquarius asks you to put them on the same screen, so you split the screen into two and you flick a switch to allow the two test subjects to see each other in the mirrors in front of them.**

_Gray, what is Erza's favourite food? Erza, what is Gray's favourite food? And for effs sake, please speed it up._

**You notice Gray sweating, evidently either not knowing or forgetting what her favourite food is while Erza looks completely smug and sure of herself. Erza answers first:**

Ice lollies

**You put the buzzer button "Eh, Eh! Nope you got it wrong!" Her face crumbles in anger and sadness, and Gray seems to be even more scared. He knows that if he does gets it wrong, she will probably kill him. Then his face becomes a mask of pure concentration, before he suddenly remembers his bet with Erza. He says:**

Strawberry cheesecake, right?

**You play a loud, tinkling noise, signifying that he got it right. Instead of looking pleased with himself, he looks terrified as the Titania death glared him.**

_Next question, and this one is much more important. When are you actually going to do your event? The thing about people catching the SC members and using them for a day._

**They both fall silent, evident that they had clearly forgotten it (I'm so sorry xD I knew I forgot something. I might make it the next chapter, since the school will be completed by then :D)**

**Gray responds by saying:**

Whenever the school finishes. Duh.

_Okay Mr. Sass. Thank you for your time. Now Erza, you can force feed him the wasabi we have left on your table. The mirror is actually glass, so you can just break in and tie him down. This stupid punk deserves it anyway. Good luck._

**Before the screen goes into static, you see Erza fiercely breaking the glass with one neat kick.**

_Next is that stupid Lucy and that even stupider Natsu._

**You put them both on a split screen (You click the Yellow and Pink buttons), aware that Aquarius is sending daggers to Lucy. She seems to think about her questions before telling you:**

_Natsu and Lucy won't be allowed to talk together._

**You stare at her, shocked, because you know she is breaking protocol. However, no one is there to prove it so you can only nod in approval. You adjust the settings so Natsu and Lucy cannot hear each other, but can hear Aquarius.**

_Okay you little shrimps, I only have two questions for you to answer and then you can go home and do whatever you people do._

_First question, what will you do for the student council._

**While Lucy thinks for a few moments, Natsu starts talking really quickly:**

Well, I'm going to be the food taster, of course! I'll check the quality of all the food and make sure that everyone has nice food to eat. And also vegetarian and vegan options should be allowed, even though I don't know how anyone can live without meat!

**Aquarius nods, slightly impressed by how something so stupid could actually help improve the school, even if he would find it enjoyable. After a few more minutes of thinking, Lucy says:**

I'll probably write all the news and gossip of the school, plus stuff like rankings in fights, as well as including other schools and just write something that everyone can enjoy! I can also do a weekly magazine or a short interactive novel, and they pay a small amount of money to get their desired story ending, so the school makes a bit of a profit!

**Even though you see the hatred in Aquarius' eyes, you can also see that she knows that having a high economical background is always good, and she would also get paid more in the process, so it was a win-win situation either way.**

_Okay, second question - Who is your favourite SC member?_

**At this, you see Natsu and Lucy both blush, and at the same time they mumble each other's names:**

L..lu..luce/ N..natsu

**She tells you to switch off the lights, and they are suddenly enveloped in darkness while your screen in static again. Only two more people and your shift is done. You can't really care about what happens to the kids after, but you just pray it isn't some sick experiment.**

**She orders you to put Gajeel and Juvia on the same screen (and you click the Black and Blue buttons). She stares down at her phone and opens her eyes wide in shock before asking you to speed up the process. She feels like most of these questions are irrelevant, so she skips to the most important question that she saw asked to say:**

_How many big competitions will Fairy Tail hold in a year?_

**Both say at the same time, in unison:**

Three times. You can test your strength the first time, second time you can be more prepared and get as far as you can, and the last is when you've trained all year to win, when the battle is extremely intense (Gajeel). Three is a good number, and once isn't really fair to be honest. Two is like kinda an improvement but meh. Three is when Juvia knows she can kick ass! (Juvia)

**You see Aquarius nodding before she pushes the 'OFF' button and the whole screen is covered in static. You don't know why you picked this job for a day, but you sense that this is probably not a school for you as they promote violence and child kidnap and so many other things. You slowly back away from Aquarius with your swivel chair and before she can say anything, you spring out of the room and hope you never go there again.**

_Hey! Don't you want your pay?_

**Wow, okay this was a weird chapter O-O. I tried something different and it definitely wasn't supposed to turn out like this, but my mum is bugging me and saying I have a dentist appointment tomorrow -.-. Stay happy my adorable little chibis and I hope you don't hate me too much for this chapter. Hugs! ~(*^-^*)~ xxxxx**

**Roxanne**


	19. Surprises

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/n: You know I'm just going to say excuses right now, so I'll just begin :D... Hiya guys! Sorry for not uploading anything yesterday, I had to have fillings with two injections and I was also trying to make a sort of music video. I was also feeling sick (even though now I'm more sick :3) and I just didn't feel like writing. I wasn't really happy with the last chapter, and I didn't want to write another chapter that I was horrified with O-O. Alas, all you can do in life is keep staying positive, and my spirit will haunt you tonight with happy and fun thoughts, so you don't have to be depressed. Since next chapter is chapter is XX(20), the SC race and many other MAJOR events are going to happen, so be excited! I am :P. And it's being written tomorrow, when I feel better :D. Even if I'm not, I'm still going to write tomorrow ;p. Enjoy!**

**Chapter XIX: Surprises**

**Erza's Home - The weekend at 9 am**

Surprisingly, Erza was not awake at this time. Exhaustion and stress were on overload, so her priorities were at the bottom of her bucket list, because all she wanted to do was sleep. As she breathed deeply, she heard a sudden message from her phone. She chose to ignore it, because she was too tired to even get up. Another message, and Erza ignored it again. The silence was bliss, and she relaxed back in bed, aware of her phone more than ever. A third ring from her phone and she got up and swiped the screen, unsurprised that it was _Iceboy._

**(A big whoop! for the return of the text messaging :D And the next chapter is extremely relevant to the summary xD)**

_Iceboy: Hey!_

_Iceboy: Wake up, Ik ur awake!_

_Iceboy: What if I told u I would drag u off ur bed if you don't get up/stop ignoring me._

Alarm bells rang in Erza's head at the possibility of Gray actually dragging her out of bed, but she just shook her head and smiled a small grin before saying,

_Titania: Illiterate as ever, I see._

_Iceboy: Aww :( I missed u using sarcasm, abbreviation and a smiley face :'(_

She giggled, finding his sad face adorably _cute_.. She stopped her train of thought and continued the conversation,

_Titania: I guess I'll bring one of those back, just so you don't cry, **Iceboy** :p_

Gray chuckled, amused that she was being so kind, when just the other day she had force-fed him wasabi, and he had almost gone to the ambulance.

_Iceboy: My little ice heart has been warmed, yay! :D_

_Titania: And now, you shall die! :D_

_Iceboy: :O, HOW COULD YOU!?_

_Titania: Well, you are Iceboy, so your heart must have melted with the heat. So now, you are dead :)._

Erza couldn't keep a straight face at the conversation, because she saw just how ridiculous it was. Usually when texting people (especially Gray), it took her around thirty minutes to formulate an answer she was pleased to send. Now, it only took her brain one second to process and follow with the banter.

_Iceboy: Well, well, well, I guess that you don't know the true power of Iceboy. My heart is unmeltable, because my heart is made of never melting ice, so Ha! PLOT TWIST! :D_

She laughed out loud, because the conversation had gone from ridiculous to bonkers. She didn't know why, but talking to him through text allowed her to be more upfront and less like the controlled ex SC President that needed everything to be perfect, but a girl who just went with the flow. Talking to him face to face also gave her that impression, but she still felt shy to show her true colours. Maybe one day, she could finally be herself. After all, he still didn't know all her secrets.

_Titania: So why do you disturb the slumber of the great Titania, queen of the Fairies? :p_

_Iceboy: Aww, why you so srs? Can't we not talk business just yet. And who declared you Queen, huh?_

_Titania: Because I was feeling sad and stressed and I just wanted to sleep in the whole day, seeing as it's the weekend. And every1 knows I'm Queen :p_

_Iceboy: Well, I guess I've already taken 1 of your problems :p_

_Titania: I got 1 less, 1 less problem :p_

_Iceboy: Ariana Grande! So you aren't the type of girl to listen to Opera. Interesting :p..._

_Titania: Oh shut up! xD_

_Iceboy: I won't and I shant! I have these basic HUMAN RIGHTS!_

_Titania: Excuse me? I am practically the law and I won't allow you to speak :p!_

_Iceboy: You can't make me! I shall shackle myself to your window until you allow me to speak!_

She abruptly turned her head to her bedroom window to see Gray outside calmly hanging on for dear life as he waved at her with a knowing smile.  
"Gray!" she screamed, petrified for his life. In a few seconds, she had opened the large window that was above her bed and hastily pulled him forward. In doing so, she allowed him to fall on top of her and they were now gazing into each other's eyes on her bed. **(This could have gone.. so terribly..terribly wrong xD)**

"Hey Juliet, it's time to follow your Romeo for an adventure." At his words which were sweetly whispered above her, she turned bright Scarlet. However, she still had the courage to muster a few words of disapproval,  
"This is so cheesy that even a cheesy Mozzarella pizza can't compare to the cheese I'm experiencing," she huffed, still very nervous because he didn't show any indication of moving away. She suspected that he would go even closer, and he did.  
"Well, be prepared for a whole load more of cheese!" he whispered cunningly next to her ear. Before she had time to react, he pulled her into a sitting position and went behind her. To distract her from what he was about to do, he kissed her neck softly. What he didn't know was that it was probably one of the most sensitive areas of her body, and that his cold lips could somehow have the complete opposite effect on her skin, which in essence was the feeling of fire on that one spot, and it spread within her **(kinky :p).**

She froze completely, like a statue, before seeing complete and utter darkness. She guessed that he had blindfolded her, and now she was slightly scared. Her eyesight was something she had always treasured, as it had helped her countless times in her life. To be rid of it made her feel insecure and incomplete, and Gray saw that. He whispered, "Don't worry so much, trust me," and she complied, knowing that she did trust him. He took her hand and lead her to the corridor, which led him in front of the stairs. As he had forgotten about the elevator, he princess carried her. Erza felt gentle, strong arms hold her in the air as she felt a complete lack of anything solid on her feet. A small scream escaped her lips and she held onto Gray much more tightly around his neck, causing him to chuckle and find her _fucking adorable._

After making his way down the countless steps, which seemed like a life and death situation as Erza was only getting heavier with the strain, he grunted in relief when he finished the long journey. He led her into a vehicle; probably a car, and they drove on. Gray licked his lips in anticipation, hoping his plan would work.

Erza was still clueless about where they were going **(And you too, my adorable little chibis ;) ).**

* * *

**A couple days before - Unknown location 22:05 PM**

Gray leaned against a wall, waiting for his colleague. He was currently wearing a dark blue fedora, with an equally dark long detective coat and some baggy jeans. To complete his look, he had a fake pipe and **(of course :p) **sneakers. He looked ready to solve a crime, ready to fight bad ass criminals and be the most intimidating and best detective out there. However, that was certainly not his intention. A shady figure approached him and leaned back on the same wall, a few meters away. He wore the same attire, but more of a light brownish colour and Gray saw with a smug smile a flash of spiky Salmon hair.

"I've got the information, do you have what I need?" The voice of the other man was unnaturally low, and Gray bit his lip to stop himself from laughing at just how ridiculous the situation was. This was important, so he made an equally deep voice and said,  
"Yes, but you must come closer to exchange the information." The other man shook his head, disappointed.  
"It will blow our cover, stupid ice cream brain!" Natsu whisper yelled. Gray couldn't contain his laughter anymore and started laughing so hard he needed to catch his breath while saying, "I'm dying!... Help me!..." and it even looked like he was dying. His face had turned a bright red and he was on the floor, as if he was convulsing from pain. Natsu finally joined in their crazy laughter, making everyone stare at the crazy men laughing while wearing weird clothes.

After wiping their tears, they both started exchanging what they knew. They shook hands and walked away from each other back to back dramatically. Natsu paused for a moment, and they were in luck because they were perfectly synchronised, so Gray stopped too.  
"Hey!" Natsu shouted, only turning his head slightly. Gray kept on staring ahead, listening attentively to the other.  
"Thanks, you aren't such a bad guy," he said dramatically before walking away. Gray shook his head while muttering inaudibly, "You too."

They both had what they needed now to complete their individual plans. After all, it would only be a matter of time before they had to complete what they had taken ages to plan**(and it's still a mystery from you guys :p).**

* * *

**Lucy's Estate- Early afternoon: Present time**

Lucy was furious. She finally knew who the evil person was that threatened her. She shredded the papers ferociously with her bare hands, needing to vent her anger before it consumed her. After finishing, the anger was still there, and she knew she had to confront the culprit. What hurt the most was that the person was someone that _she knew her entire existence. _That person had betrayed her in every way possible, and she had not even one ounce of trust for that person. She paced her room furiously, wondering whether to confront them now or later, and what to say. After a few moments of thought, she knew that the words would just come to her and that she should go now. Sometimes, carefully laid out plans were useful, other times, you just have to wing it and hope that life accepts your choice. This was one of those decisions, and she wouldn't turn back.

She banged the study door angrily, knowing that _he _was there. The apparent cause to every one of her _fucking problems. _Lucy did not swear much, but when she was angry, she became a whole different person who you weren't supposed to mess with. She felt infuriated and felt used and hurt in every way possible, because what could be the ultimate betrayal other than your own _parent threatening you!_ **(Did ya guess before this who it was? :D)**

"Come in," He said in a monotone, commanding tone. Trying to keep her anger intact, she opened the door and curtsied gracefully. He was very surprised. He had never thought his daughter would willingly come to his study, so he stood up and asked her to sit down.  
"No, _father." _She said the word father with so much venom that he raised a bushy eyebrow at her. She had never liked him, and he knew that, but she had never really been this upfront and rude about it.  
"Show some respect, young lady!" he shouted in a booming voice.  
"No _father_, I won't! I don't even know why I call you that, when you are just a coward and a liar! How could you, how could you?!" He stared at her, still not sure exactly what he was at fault for. All he knew was that he was getting angrier.

"You think I wouldn't realise that you tried to keep me away from Natsu!? Who else would do that, other than you who always has spies following me?!" She bashed her fist on his table, instantly regretting it as it hurt _like hell! _He feverishly tried to deny it, but he wasn't fooling anyone.  
"So what if I did? Do you really want to befriend that poor rat!"  
"How dare you call him a rat! And yes, I want to befriend ' that poor rat'!" she said with air quotations, showing just how conceited he sounded.  
"He will only try to steal your money!"  
"Natsu would never do that! And I love him, so he can take all my money and I wouldn't care!"  
"It's my money YOU STUPID GIRL!" he growled before slapping her. He instantly pulled his hand away. They had always had problems, but he had never raised his hand on her. His hand print was extremely evident on her slightly tan skin, and she had a small grin on her face, to hide her pain.  
"You really think I was talking about YOUR STUPID FUCKING MONEY?! Do you know how HARD I WORKED to make my own money to get away from you? Thankfully, I have enough! I consider myself disowned from this family and my name is just Lucy now... Goodbye."

She walked away, the pain searing her left cheek. She began crying slowly, wishing her dear mother was still alive; wishing she could somehow mend her broken relationship with her father; wishing for _Natsu._ She screamed his name countless times as she slammed the door shut and curled herself in a ball hoping that her prince charming would save her. She packed everything she had bought with her own money in her Sunshine Yellow suitcase before leaving her keys and slamming the door shut without looking back.

_I knew it would happen, but not this soon..._ She bitterly thought to herself. She looked up at the now cloudy sky and whispered, "Sorry mother..."

When she was young, she had promised on her mother's death bed this:

_"Mummy! Mummy please don't go away!" Little Lucy had cried, scared her mother was going to suddenly vanish at any moment.__  
__"Lucy, promise Mummy this. Even if you dislike your father, don't abandon him, at least not until you are eighteen. Your father loves you very much, he just doesn't know how to show it," she said while caressing little Lucy's cheek.__  
__"I promise mummy, I promise!" she screamed, not thinking about the consequences of her words. Her mother's hand went limp and before she knew it, she was gone. She had cried all that time, remembering her mother's last words. Her best friend Gray had been there for her, and she had been grateful, as well as other good friends._

As she walked, slow rain drops splashed on her slumped body, as if they were her mother's tears. She cried with them, feeling so alone. She knew that she couldn't go back.

* * *

**Natsu's POV** \- **Third person, like always :p Present time**

Natsu was finally ready. He had prepared everything and he only hoped it went well. After his encounter with Gray, he was positive that he could make Lucy his. He blushed at the thought of having a girlfriend and he knew that the thought would soon have to be accepted if _she said yes! _He remembered what happened after his encounter with Mira, and he was glad that he had finally fought his demons and accepted his past. He realised now that he was not at fault for Lisanna's pain, and his heart felt light and happy.

_"Whh..WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE ISN'T DEAD!?" Natsu screamed, startling everyone on the train carriage. He mumbled sorry a few times before looking at Mirajane. She had started making her fingers run through her hair, a nervous habit she had when she was shy about stuff.__  
__"I'm so sorry Natsu.. She's actually in a coma. She's been in the coma for so many years, and she's still there," she whispered. Natsu was completely shell-shocked, because the girl who had been dead in his mind was alive. All of a sudden, he grabbed both of Mirajane's hands and asked her, "Can I please see her?" She nodded, a small smile of relief on her face as she realised that he still did not hate her. She hugged him again, glad that he was such a kind and forgiving soul even after all this time. They got off the next stop and headed to the hospital._

_..._

_"Hey Lisa" Natsu whispered while holding Lisanna's hand. They felt colder and much larger, but they were still the familiar hands that had held his during his childhood.__  
__"It's me, Natsu! Long time no see," he whispered a bit more loudly.__  
__"You know something? I actually had a massive crush on you," he chuckled to himself at how love-sick he had been.__  
__"When Mira said you died, I completely broke down and ran away... But don't worry, I'm back now! I really don't blame Mira, I would have probably done the same. And fate brought us together, so I'm really happy about that. I'm sorry, but my heart is now for another. I knew you would never like me in that way, but I pushed it at the back of my head, deluding myself that you were my soul mate. But you know something? I think I found mine..." He paused for a moment before continuing, "Her name is Lucy, but I call her Luce. She's sweet, funny, ridiculous, incredibly smart yet so stupid at the same time and I love her so much!... Sorry Lisa, I might sound like a love struck puppy, but that's just how love is. I think I'm a bit worried about my sexuality though... I'm always falling for girls with names that begin with L! I guess that's my sexuality, all girls that their names begin with L!" He laughed to himself, pleased with his final conclusion.__  
__"I'm becoming a player like Gray! Remember him? Yeah that guy became a womanizer. But I guess he's changing now, since he only hangs around with Erza. But I feel sorry for him..." he sighed, leaving his sentence unfinished.__  
__"Well, see you later Lisa! I have many years of my life to talk to you, and I hope you wake up soon from your long sleep..." He kissed her lightly on the forehead before exiting._

_What he didn't know was that Lisanna had heard everything and that the heart machine had made a loud, beeping noise. What he also failed to notice was that Lisanna's eyes were wide open a few seconds later, crying..._

He started running, relief evident when you looked at just how happy he was. As he made his way to Lucy's house, he saw a Blonde head on a bench and she seemed to be crying. He patted her shoulder lightly to not scare her, seeing that she had a bright Sunshine Yellow luggage bag.  
"Hey, yall'right?" he asked, worried when she did not respond to his touch. She got up suddenly, seeing her prince charming had actually come to save her. Natsu stared at the beauty in front of him crying, and he hugged her tightly, letting go of the object he had been holding for the past hour. She immediately engulfed herself in his warm hug, glad that he had found her. After she had stopped crying, Natsu awkwardly took what was on the ground that he had accidentally allowed to fall. He hid it behind his back, pulling away from the hug. The warmth was instantly missed on Lucy's side, and she began wiping the dry tears on her cheeks. He pulled out a big bouquet of flowers and she gasped. In the bouquet were red and white roses along with lilies and sunflowers. Natsu coughed shyly before saying,

"Lucy, this isn't really how I imagined confessing my feelings for you, but adaptability is a must in a relationship right?" He chuckled to himself while she was still in shock. He continued,  
"Lucy, I know this may be cheesy but I feel in love with you the moment our eyes met. I didn't know that at the time, I only just felt like that something in my life that was missing was finally complete. I have never felt this strongly about anyone before, but I think it's now time to stop being so worried. I picked these flowers because they all represent you and my love for you. The sunflowers are your personality: always radiating warmth and looking at the sunny and positive things in life, even when it's a rainy day. The red and white roses represent how madly I fell in love with you and the innocence of my feelings, which are honestly really new to me, but I already said that... And last but not least, the lilies is a dare from me to you - I dare you to love me Lucy Heartfilia!"

Tears were streaming down her face, but for a completely different reason now. Before Natsu could start feeling worried, she kissed him passionately on the lips. It was a simple kiss, but it felt so right and so amazing, and it made Lucy feel on top of the world. After the kiss, he bent down on one knee. She gasped, not even prepared to process what she_ thought _was about to happen. He pulled out a ring from his trouser pocket and said,  
"Lucy, will you please be my..girlfriend?" **(trolled ya, didn't I ?:D)**

"Yes!" she screamed immediately, taking the ring and placing it on her wedding finger. Natsu chuckled and kissed her lightly before moving the ring to her middle finger on her left hand.  
"Can't have people thinking we're getting married, or we will be in a hell of a lot of trouble!" She giggled at that and snuggled up to him in pure bliss.

"And now Luce, it's time to go to the amusement park!"  
"Noooooooooooo! You know I'm scared of the big roller coasters!"  
"And that's why I love you and more!" He screamed as he kissed her on the cheek before dragging her to the amusement park, the two tickets in his hands. Lucy loved amusement parks, and she was so glad that Natsu had picked to go there **(Clap for wing-man Gray ;) Even though Natsu would suffer a lot because of his motion sickness x3..). **Lucy realised that she had forgotten to say something, so as they ran she whispered shyly in his ear,

"I love you too," while pecking him lightly on the cheek. Natsu grew instantly much hotter and his face was completely red, and Lucy giggled uncontrollably at this.

**A couple has been born! :D I'm so proud of me, myself and I! :')**

* * *

**Unknown Destination - 23:05**

Erza knew that they had been driving for hours, but she didn't want to bother Gray by asking him where they were going, because she trusted him completely. They had made a few stops, and Erza had wondered each time what he was getting, except for one time when he bought her a strawberry cheesecake, and she had to eat it blindfolded. The flavour had been exquisite, and being blind fold had helped her appreciate it a lot more because Gray had noticed her stomach rumbling. She had been embarrassed as he had chuckled, but he had soon been forgiven. Once while driving, he had nearly knocked her hand, almost sending the cake to drop on the floor. She had been so angry that she had smacked him hard on the head, and she was satisfied when he had screamed, "Ouch! Why the hell did you do that!?" The car journey had been silent, except for the music playing on the radio at a low volume. Erza had lowly hummed, hoping Gray did not notice.

When they stopped for a final time, Erza bounced up and down on her seat excitedly. She had contained her excitement because she had not wanted to show Gray how cliché like a movie this situation was, even though Erza had always wanted to be the lead in those hopelessly cliché movies. Natsu had told him about the place they were at, and Gray was very grateful because he _knew _that she would love it **(and now a clap for wing-man Natsu!)**

He got out of the car and went to Erza's side before opening the door for her. Gingerly, she placed her feet on something grainy and soft. She instantly flinched her feet away, and he gave her a reassuring tug. She complied and placed the soles of her feet on the moving ground. Gray made her walk in the unstable ground for a few minutes before he stopped and tugged her down, to motion for her to sit down. He removed her blindfold from the front and used his hands to cover her eyes. In a straddling position, he made her lie down on the soft grainy floor. He removed his hands away and she saw his beautiful eyes. It wasn't the colour, but the way they sparkled and evoked so much emotion without even saying one word. They were so clear and perfect, yet unreadable, but that was not what Gray wanted her to look at.

He moved his face and lay on what Erza saw from her peripheral vision (_sand) _and looked up. The sky was very clear with no sign of any moon, but what she saw were the endless amount of stars. She gasped in awe. In Magnolia, there were stars, but not as many as she saw there. The amount of stars in Magnolia were in no comparison to the stars in this desert. She felt her heart quicken at how beautiful the sky was, as if it was at one with the Universe. Every star twinkled and shined differently, all different sizes and shapes, and they made her feel part of something _magnificent and big._

No words were said, because they were not needed. Erza felt like maybe when she died, she would definitely join all those thousands of hundreds of stars. Astronomy had only mildly interested her, but now she wished so badly to know the different constellations and name all of them, so she could appreciate all the stars. After all, humans were the remains of dead stars. It was amazing to feel so close to something that was so far away, but she knew _one thing that isn't so far away. _Carefully, Erza held Gray's hand, scared of what he may think. As he had been staring longingly at the stars, his gaze slowly drifted to Erza, who had also been in the same trance, and squeezed her hand. She gave him the happiest smile he had ever seen of hers, and he was so glad he got to share something which had been a part of him for so long.

When he had been young, Gray and Natsu had been lost and had stumbled on this desert in the night. They had been instantly captivated by how many stars there were, and swore to bring someone special to share the view. Gray had tried finding it, but he knew he would be hopeless at it so he had asked Natsu. Natsu had remembered the exact location, and so now he got to enjoy the stars with a special someone... _Erza._

Seeing Gray lost in thought, Erza booped his nose lightly, a speck of sand landing on his nose from her finger. At this, she chuckled and Gray just stared in confusion at her. He saw how sandy her hair was and laughed at that, causing her to stare at him in confusion. He went closer to remove a bit of sand from her hair, and she realised just how close they were now. Their lips were millimetres apart, and Gray contemplated on leaning closer. She thought the exact same thing and her breath hitched, _anticipation? _allowing her to visibly shake. He leaned closer, and she closed her eyes tightly and tilted her head slightly...

...

... His cold lips never touched hers.. Instead, he sighed and pulled away at the last second before getting up and shaking his head like a dog to get rid of the sand on his hair. She got up too, looking at the stars before looking back at him with a small grin. He had a wide smile, and it warmed her heart.

Even though, for some reason, she felt really _disappointed and depressed..._

**and done! :D This one wasn't supposed to be that long, only 1k or 2k, but I somehow spent 5 hours on this and I'm sure it's slightly longer than the shorter chapters. Hope you like it :D. And sorry for trolling you so many times, I just can't help it xD. The next chapter will be over 10k, so you have been warned! Bring your dinner if you have to, but be prepared for revelations and just a good, thrilling chase :D Hope you guys have an amazing day my adorable little chibis and Hugs! ~(*^-^*)~ (with a cookie ;p). xxxxx**

**Roxanne**


	20. My Melody

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/n: Heya guys! So as I've said, this chapter is pretty important for the whole story line, and I feel like I've either been stalling too long or I needed to add chapters so this story would make a lot more sense. I started this at around 4 pm, so I will probably be kinda late uploading this, as it is 10k and let's just say that I don't have the greatest attention span :p... I hope you are happy and stay well, and if not here's a hug from me ~(*^-^*)~ . And thank you so so much for the 4k+ views, I'm literally shocked that anyone would ever want to read this xD... And to the Guest that reviewed on the 21st of Feb, Thank you so much and I'll try to keep it up xD**

**Let's begin and I hope you guys enjoy this! :D**

**Chapter XX: My Melody**

**Fairy Tail Entrance - 8:53 AM**

Gray rubbed his eyes sleepily. After spending the night with Erza, he had arrived at the school only two hours ago because of how far the desert had been. He could already see the stage that had been set up previously and all the big screens plus tons of other mini screens around the school, which would signal where each of the SC members where. Even though his idea had been a stroke of genius, he realised now that he was at a complete disadvantage. The advantages him and Erza had made had seemed enough, but how much stamina could he waste in 24 hours? Too much. He was also exhausted, and so would Erza and probably Natsu and Lucy, seeing as they had both spent around the same amount of time doing whatever Natsu had planned. He sighed and ruffled his hair, sick at the thought of being someone's boy toy. Even if he could gain weapons, he didn't know if he could really hurt all the girls who would bombard him. One thing he knew for certain was that he would be hunted down and if any one of those girls got their nasty claws on him for 15 seconds, they would do unimaginable things to him... He shuddered at the thought, too creeped out by the idea of him being slowly tortured. At least one satisfactory thing that could come out from this is that if he hugged Erza for 25 seconds, he could do whatever he wanted with her for a day. He smiled smugly at this, the thought of Erza overshadowing any other rabid fan girl. He sat down on the gravel cross-legged, trying to think of the best battle plan. Before he could think of anything solid, a flash of Scarlet distracted him. Erza walked up to him slowly, like in those slow romantic scenes, and she simply sat down next to him with her knees together, as if she was about to perform a tea ceremony.

...

Erza had woken up on Gray's shoulder in the car. Even though it was the shortest sleep she has ever had in her life, she still enjoyed it in the arms of _Iceboy._He had stopped the car, and she realised she was back at home. It made her kind of sad that she was back so soon, but at least she wasn't exhausted like Gray. He had barely had any sleep because he had driven to and back, not allowing her to see the road. She had offered to drive, but he just said, "We can't spoil the mystery, can we?" She just shook her head at that, because she knew he wouldn't allow her to take the blindfold off no matter what. As she waved him goodbye after he had carried her to her bedroom, she realised that she did not need to wear her school uniform. Usually, she would have worn something practical and easy to not grab a hold of, but today, she felt different. She wanted to look pretty. She wanted to feel beautiful. Mostly for herself, to raise her self-esteem, but maybe also for _him._

She looked in her walk-in-closet, examining all the clothes that she had barely worn. She glanced at her window and predicted it would be a sunny day, so something breezy and light... _A dress!._She moved to the right of her walk-in-closet, seeing all the dresses she had kept. She instantly fell in love with a pink summer dress. It was strapless and the top part was all lace, with flower patterns. Then at the bottom, there was a pink skirt that went up to her knees **(If you just search pink summer dress, it's the second one :) )**.

Erza then plaited her hair, hoping it would turn slightly curly as she only had less than an hour to go back to school and participate in the opening ceremony. Today was also kind of a special day for Erza, but she didn't want to bother anyone, she usually just spent it alone anyway. She went to her jewellery box and placed two small golden hoop earrings in her ear piercing. Pleased with her look, she selected three silver rings and a bracelet, along with red short high heels. She looked in the mirror and smiled at herself, glad that she didn't look half bad. With a thud she closed the door.

She drove with the wind hitting her face, and she felt alive so she cranked up the music to a startlingly high volume. She began singing the lyrics flawlessly, not caring who saw or heard the music, but just enjoying the music. Music allowed her to feel like she was in another dimension ...Another Universe were anything was possible. She didn't need to see the pity in anyone's face and she could just drift along and feel like the third person in a story, listening to their memories, happiness, worries and problems. She didn't have to worry about her own problems, and that was probably one of her big secrets. As she reached the school, she had lowered her singing to a hum. When she finally reached the car park, she turned off the radio and walked at the entrance of the school, expecting nothing to be ready. Surprisingly, the whole school had been adorned with banners and streamers plus High Definition cameras with large TV screens and a large stage. She spotted Gray looking thoughtful and serious, and without protest her feet carried her to sit next to him. His mouth was slightly agape, as if he was surprised.

Erza poked her tongue out slightly and while using her index finger to close his mouth said,  
"What are you so surprised about?" He didn't speak for a few seconds and Erza tilted her head slightly, trying to unlock his thoughts.  
"You look... Beautiful..." Erza had not been expecting Gray to compliment her, so she turned away, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. She felt his stare boring on her, scanning every inch of her. She crossed her arms defensively, while still looking away, hoping he would stop staring at her. She heard him chuckle and she nervously looked at the Raven haired teen, still staring at her.  
"Thank you..." she mumbled softly, hoping he wouldn't hear her. He did, and he simply patted her wavy hair.

"All members of the SC please come on stage if you are present!" announced Juvia. Gray and Erza stood up and started patting away at some invisible dirt. Gray looked at Erza's shoes and handed over his arm, so she could lean on him. Even though Erza was an expert at wearing heels, she took his arm gratefully, enjoying his touch on her skin. As they made their way onto the stage, they also saw Nastu and Lucy already on the stage, looking at each other with heart eyes. Apparently, Gray hadn't got the memo because everyone was wearing formal-casual clothes, unlike him still in his uniform. Natsu was wearing a black suit with a Salmon tie to match his hair and **(of course)**black converse. Lucy had gone all out with a purple prom dress that had glitter all over the bodice with her hair in a messy bun and black heels. Gajeel was wearing a formal Black shirt and black trousers with smart shoes and his hair tied back in a ponytail while Juvia was wearing a blue dress with several jewels attached to it with a fluffy white jacket. Everyone looked like they were modelling for a fashion parade, while he looked like some extra that was there only to watch. However, he wasn't jealous because he knew that his looks were good enough to go anywhere even if he was wearing a trash bag **(cocky bastard -.-)**

"Okay, so me and Juvia have been selected to host this even, and you guys will be on the run," Gajeel announced.  
"We know the rules but we can't tell you just yet. Hope you guys have fun while we just mess around and eat!" Juvia said enthusiastically. Natsu shrugged while Lucy giggled next to him, and Erza just shook her head.

It was going to be a long day...

**\\(*^-^*)/ (This is my new interlude thingy , hugs! :D)**

The Student Council were all on the stage behind a curtain, awaiting their fates. They were all standing, waiting for the final arrivals of each school to enter. The Fairy Tail School's gates closed, announcing the start of the introductions. Juvia and Gajeel stepped out of the curtain and began with their enthusiastic act to keep the audience interested.  
"Welcome to Fairy Tail's Student Council Chase! Are you ready!?" Juvia screamed into her microphone, trying to pump everyone into being excited. It worked, and the electricity rippled through the crowd while they whistled and cheered loudly.  
"So it's time to introduce who the contestants are and the rules! First up, Natsu Dragneel," Gajeel said. Natsu stepped forward while waving at the crowd, and everyone cheered loudly. Apparently, Natsu was quite popular throughout the three schools.  
"Next, Lucy Heartfilia!" Juvia announced. Lucy also stepped forward and air kissed the crowd, which made the guys wolf whistle at her.  
"Our bad boy slash heartbreaker slash womanizer, Gray Fullbuster!" Juvia said excitedly. Gray opened the curtain with a flourish, and all the inhuman screams that could have possibly been made were made by his fan girls. Instead of waving, he ruffled his hair while smiling sheepishly, knowing that he enjoyed the attention.  
"And last but certainly not least, Erza Scarlet, the beautiful Titania!" Erza nervously walked to the stage, and she was met with silence. Erza started panicking, thinking that dressing up was a horrible idea. She stared at the floor, too shocked to look at the audience. She knew she looked different, but did she really look _that bad?_

Suddenly, the largest applause of the day emanated through the crowd. Gray lifted up Erza's face, making her see the crowd applauding loudly. Clearly, they approved and she smiled genuinely while waving at the crowd.  
"So now we know the participants, it's time for the rules!" Juvia said. The audience finally silenced, waiting to hear all the rules that would allow them to use the Student Council members to their will.  
"As you know, there are cameras everywhere for a reason. You guys will only have access with 25% of the cameras, while the Student Council have 100% access. If you see any of the Student Council members, you will not be allowed to hurt them in any way, or you are disqualified and there is a possibility that you will be excluded." When Gajeel stopped briefly, everyone stared at the stage shocked. The Student Council knew that they would have to implement a drastic rule, or they would definitely get assaulted. Of course, they wouldn't kick anyone out. It was like a placebo, so they would essentially trick them for their own benefit. There was no point in feeling guilty because they would rather feel that than bruises all over their bodies. Juvia continued the speech,  
"You instead have to hug them for 15 seconds. Each time someone touches them, there will be a countdown that will automatically start and will stop as soon as the physical contact ceases. If the countdown ends, it means that you win! But there are like a million of you guys and 4 SC members, so that isn't fair at all. That's why they are allowed to hurt you. As you know, Fairy Tail encourages fighting, and as these four are probably some of our strongest fighters, they are allowed weapons. They can gain weapons by either taking the flags attached to your wrists or fighting you until you pass out. They can also find various disguises all around, but they cannot be near each other if one of them has been immobile for over ten minutes in one location. They can use violence against each other and they also have to hug each other for 25 seconds, so the stakes are higher. If all of them get caught, then you will also have to catch us presenters! We hope you enjoy your time at Fairy Tail, and there will be prestigious rewards."

The crowd started chattering excitedly, and the Student Council members stared at each other, secretly wishing each other good luck. Gajeel and Juvia turned off their microphones and started passing the other SC members their tracking devices, phones, flags, hiding spots and just everything they needed in general. A loud horn sounded, announcing that they had their ten minute head start. Ten minutes seemed like a lot, but there was tons of ground to cover, and ten minutes wouldn't be nearly enough. Natsu started heading North, Lucy going East, Erza going South and Gray, West. While everyone else ran, Gray strode confidently towards his destination in a relaxed manner. The crowd looked at him with confused expressions. Erza, Lucy and Natsu were already inside the school, but Gray was still outside. What they didn't know was that he was going to a hidden passage underground, but it could only be activated if a large amount of people were around a certain area of the secret passage. As soon as the second horn sounded, around 70% of the girls chased after Gray, seeing him as an easy target. Gray was right underneath the secret passage, so as soon as 30% of those girls entered the large area, he was going downwards in an aluminium tunnel.

He started laughing loudly at his ingenuity, impressed that he could fool people so easily. After the tunnel finished, he cracked his knuckles, ready to rumble. He walked at a slow pace, not too bothered in rushing. He knew that no one could get in, only out. And even if anyone entered, he was 110% sure that he could beat them until they were in a coma. The only reason he made this stupid competition was to hang out with Erza, even if she would probably run away from him. He needed a great plan. Heck, he needed a brilliant one to trap her. Suddenly, an idea surfaced his mind. It wasn't guaranteed, but he knew that it would be very likely, especially if he knew what she was like **(which he does because duh... he's Gray ;p)**.

He knew that the only way to reach her was to go in the direction she went, but he had no connection from where he was: underground. That was a huge disadvantage, as well as no evident doors being in sight. Nevertheless, he would walk on. After all, he knew that Erza was going South, and his sense of direction had always been good.

**Sometimes, I feel like I'm making Gray a borderline pedoish stalker to Erza. Like honestly, he's so persistent in trying to catch her xD I'm sorry xD... Actually I'm not, but whatevs :p**

**\\(*^-^*)/**

"Well, Gray has disappeared out of sight, the first SC member to actually use the secret passage. Congratz man!" Gajeel said, cheering Gray on.  
"Let's look at where one of our most chased SC members is, Lucy!" Juvia said excitedly.  
"She is now cornered into a dead end, what will she do? There are also around 10 students close to her location. Is this the end for her already? Let's find out!" said Gajeel in a conspiratorial manner.  
"Oh look Gajeel! Lucy is fighting them one by one. Look at that roundhouse kick! Go Lucy!.. Wow... She actually beat all of them with so much ease. Let's stalk her for a little while, because I knew she was strong, but I clearly underestimated her!" Juvia said with mild shock.

...

Lucy panted tiredly, already exhausted from running from a bunch of the students. She had already pretty much beaten around 50 students and even taken their flags, so now she had the option of either hiding, continue fighting, or trying to redeem the flags. The best option seemed to redeem the flags, because she knew that if she hid, it would only be a temporary option and continuously fighting would only make her weak until she collapsed and lost. She checked her phone, and saw that there was a secret entrance right ahead. However, she could also see the dots representing her classmates around the parameter of the door. Could she risk it? She felt a slight twinge of confidence. She had beat all those students, surely she could beat a few more, if it meant that she could escape their rampage for even a few minutes.

She sprinted apprehensively to the door, noting that no one was in the visible area. She gave a relieved sigh before trying to open the door. However, it didn't even budge. Why wasn't it moving? Then, she realised that the door was specifically for her. Of course it was. She took out her trusted Stellar Keys (which were like skeleton keys, but themed around Zodiacs and various other things) and started examining the key whole, trying to see which key would fit best. She knew she needed to speed up because she heard footsteps getting closer and closer to her. Finally, she took one of the keys and used it to unlock the door, and it fitted perfectly. Two guys were rushing at her at full speed, and she opened the door forcefully before closing it shut, aware that they had been a few milliseconds away from touching her. She had grown really rusty. She knew she had to practice a bit more, because it used to take her barely a second to figure out what key to use.

She huffed and puffed for a few moments while leaning on the door, kind of unsure what she would do next. She glanced forward after recovering a bit of strength, and saw three podiums. One contained a whip, and a piece of paper said she only had to redeem three flags for it. Lucy had always been an expert with a whip. Not in a weird kind of way, just for combat. It was really easy to use and could even paralyse her enemies if need be. Next, there was a perfume bottle, but she quickly guessed that it was probably sleeping gas. Useful, and much cheaper than the whip as it was only half a flag. She could stock up and buy enough to knock out the whole school. However, she didn't think they were very light weight. Lastly, there was a disguise. Lucy smiled in glee at it. It was the school uniform, but it also had a white, long wavy wig with heels. She knew in an instant that it was Mirajane's clothes. She could easily disguise herself as Mira and direct the crowd of rabid students away from her. However, it was a lot more expensive, but she knew she already had enough. With a satisfied nod, she laid out the flags and picked up the clothes, which also came with a black bag. She didn't see the need to change right now, so she carefully placed the items in the bag.

She heard a loud thud coming from the door, and checked her phone. She was in big trouble! There were at least a hundred students at the door, trying to make it fall. She knew she had only a matter of minutes before being captured. She could already see a very small but very visible crack on the sturdy door. She was trapped! She looked around the room and started checking for any secret passages. Luckily for her, she had great observational skills and saw that the bookshelf practically completely didn't match with the room's dimensions. While every other wall was equal and equidistant, there was one wall which was slightly shorter from the middle of the room than the rest, and it was covered by a large bookshelf. She glanced at it studiously, and came up with a conclusion that it was like those cliché movies that used books to go through secret passages. She started removing and placing the books back one by one at lightning speed, hoping that it would work. It didn't, and the danger seemed more imminent. Why was it not like to cliché spy movies!?

Lucy started to panic slightly, but carefully examined the bookshelf. The bookshelf had a diverse number of books and the only anomaly were the only 6 Yellow books. Carefully, she inspected them, trying to figure out what was bothering her about those certain pile of books. She looked at the names on the spine of the books, and looked at the first letters in order. It spelled out WOLLEY. What did that even mean? She knew that the school would not have made her think of something too difficult, and thought of the times that she had been compared to something. After all, the room seemed specifically for her. From the door came another loud thud, and it finally clicked! The school always made a big deal out of colours for the Student Council, so Lucy was pretty sure that they would do it once again. And what colour did they always make her associated with? Yellow! WOLLEY spelled YELLOW backwards! She quickly rearranged the order in haste, afraid that the door could open at any second. There was a satisfying click as she placed the last book in the right place, and the bookshelf moved to reveal a door. She entered and it banged shut behind her.

She started walking through the dark corridor before she became out of breath and sat down on the floor. She felt so relieved that she actually had a few brain cells, even though sometimes she felt that they were very unappreciated. She stood up to begrudgingly walk again, but a hand covered her mouth. At first, she wanted to scream at whoever was there, but she calmed down the moment she realised who the owners of the familiar hands were.  
"Guess who?" said the voice of a certain Salmon haired boy.  
"Hmm, I honestly have no clue! Could it be Gray?" she giggled internally.  
He spun her around to face him, seeing the contours of his hair and face even in the darkness.  
"The ice princess, are you kidding me Luce!? How could you betray me so much! I guess now I just have to hang out with Happy and not you," he poked his tongue out playfully and Lucy couldn't resist hugging him. He hugged her just as fiercely, relishing in the hug. He pulled away suddenly, having realised something. Lucy instantly missed the contact, and raised her eyebrows at him questioningly.  
"Sorry Luce, but I think that people were chasing me, so... we kinda need to move now or we will be caught." Lucy's eyes widened and she realised that he was right. They would be blocked from both sides if they didn't hurry up. She checked her phone, and saw that the exit was right in front of them **(Convenient lil' me :D).**They could either go out in the open and run away, or ... the was not really any _or_ option.

"Natsu, we can escape right here, but they will still chase us!" Lucy said, her voice a pitch higher than usual. Natsu noticed this and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly before saying.  
"Luce you know the keys you used to lock that door?" Lucy stared at him, surprised that he had been watching her. He continued, but she could still see a light pink staining his cheeks,  
"Maybe you could lock the door, and I'll go back to the other one to make sure the other one stays shut, while you shut the other one somehow!" Lucy nodded vigorously, highly impressed by Natsu's cunning plan. They could trap the students so easily and almost a quarter of the student body would be locked. They both pushed the secret passage door open and closed it with a loud pang. Then, Lucy used her Stellar Keys to lock it and Natsu quickly kissed her cheek before running in the opposite direction. She blushed hard at that before running back to her door. She needed to block the entrance of the other room somehow, as she knew that it was probably blocked. Two strong jocks up ahead were guarding the entrance, and she quickly knocked them unconscious with her bag and dragged them inside the now empty room. She checked her phone and saw that if she downloaded a useful app, it could solve all her problems. However, it cost all of her flags combined. She took the risk, and got the holographic door maker. She pointed her phone at the door before clicking the button to activate a holographic door. The holographic door was like a barrier, and anyone who touched it would be pushed back, accompanied by an electric shock. She smiled before walking away.

She wanted to work with Natsu again, but knew that she wasn't allowed to at all. The SC had added more rules that if two SC members met, they could only work with each other once and had to either ignore each other next time, or try and catch each other. It sucked, but rules were rules... Hopefully she and Natsu wouldn't be caught, because she knew how much jealousy she could feel if she saw Natsu with another girl. She started going to a classroom to change into the Mirajane disguise.

**\\(*^-^*)/**

"Natsu and Lucy have worked together, so the next time they meet they have to either catch each other or stay away from each other in a twenty meter radius in under twenty seconds, or they will both be disqualified," said Gajeel solemnly. Talking was fun and all, but Gajeel was starting to get bored from just watching. After all, he had originally wanted to fight anyway, but two people had to present the show. Juvia had instantly agreed, so of course he wanted to support his best friend. An idea popped in his head, and no one could stop it.

"Hey Juvia, how about we join in this little charade?" he whispered conspiratorially, turning off the microphone. Juvia looked at him sceptically,  
"But it's against the rules!"  
"And when exactly have we ever followed the rules? And anyways, rules are meant to be broken. We are the living embodiment of that!"  
And Gajeel was right about that. Both their families had strict rules, and the biggest rule was that whoever your parents told you to marry, you had to marry, no questions asked. They had broken every other rule in the family, and they had soon broken that one as well. They completely refused to marry each other, knowing that they already found their soul mates, and that they would only ever be best friends. Tomorrow was also a very important day for them, as it would be the only time they could speak to their parents about cancelling the engagement before they went to different countries abroad for a few months. Even though the SC race was only 24 hours, it would still be too long and their parents would be long gone by then. No, they had to finish the SC race in less than 10 hours.

Juvia seemed to realise this too and gave him an approving nod before jumping off the stage with him and running to go to the place most populated by the students: the dojo. The dojo was a place to train and practice the different types of martial arts, and it was probably like a second home to most of the students. When they reached the entrance of the dojo, Juvia had a plan. She asked for a leg up, and Gajeel complied, still unsure of her plan. She climbed up to the roof of the dojo gracefully and smirked slightly. She started tap dancing at a slow tempo, then getting faster and faster. For anyone else watching, it seemed a bit strange to just be randomly dancing on the roof of the dojo, but Gajeel instantly got it as he saw her. The clouds started forming and looming above her, encouraging her to move faster. She went faster and faster, and it started pouring down violently. Everything seemed normal except for the little drizzle and Juvia dancing, but inside the dojo was a whole different matter.

Students were fainting suddenly, collapsing on the floor. That was because Juvia's dancing had been a code, and it had activated sleeping gas. It wasn't so strong that it could knock out everyone in the whole world, but it was strong enough to knock out at least half the people in the dojo. With a flourish, she finished and bowed at her crowd of one. He clapped slowly with a huge grin on his face, impressed at how she had done that with such ease. She fell off the dojo roof, and he caught her, giving her a massive hug to congratulate her. "Now it's time for the party to really start!" he said in a hyper tone.

They both opened the large doors of the dojo and as expected, saw students either sleeping on the floor or very confused. As soon as they saw them, the students started rushing at the two. At least half the population of the school was there, so they knew that they had to act fast. They beat the first couple hundred students with their bare fists. They were slightly tired, but knew they had a long journey ahead before actually finishing this thing. They quickly dropped their flags on the floor, and it produced weapons for them. Gajeel grinned wildly at his steel bat, while Juvia just grimaced at her water whip. The water whip was new innovative technology that allowed water to be at a state of gelatinous substance while still being very fluid and easy to whip people with. Gajeel said with slight sarcasm, "I'm sure that will help you tons!" He hid his urge to laugh, seeing that his friend was giving him the death glare with a smile.  
"Don't worry Gajeel, let me show you how it works," Juvia said smugly. She walked to the centre of the dojo to be met by students forming a circle around her. They all looked so hungry, like animals. At once, they all charged at her, and she flicked her Blue hair before using her whip to slam into anyone as she performed several pirouettes. Apparently, Gajeel was not so great at judging weapons like he thought he was because every single one of those people who had encircled her were now on the floor, unconscious.

"So?"  
"Pretty impressive, but not as impressive as this!" Gajeel screamed while taking a swing at anyone in his path. Juvia smiled and saw just how good of a fighter he really was. Everyone who came into contact with him was quickly put to sleep. Sure, they would all probably have bruises, but all's well that ends well, right? They continued fighting.

...

Finally after two hours, they had cleared out all the students at the dojo. It had taken ages, but their fighting skills had been a bit rusty, since they hadn't really gotten to fight in a couple of months. Nevertheless, they praised each other's techniques and the coolest fighting moments. Juvia took her microphone from her pocket and made sure that the cameras were on her and Gajeel.

"Less than half of the students remain, and all of the Student Council members are participating now, so bring it on people! 6 students versus the rest of the school, can you handle it? It's time to go to Erza!" Juvia turned off the microphone and smiled shyly at her best friend. They walked outside, exhausted from the constant fighting.  
"I'm wiped!" stated Gajeel.  
"I would think so Gajeel, it was honestly kinda stressful, now that I look back..."  
"You sound like an old man Juvia, it's only been two hours!" laughed Gajeel.  
"Yeah, but still..."

They sat in silence for a few moments, not really bothered to get up. Suddenly, Juvia remembered something important.  
"Gajeel! We have to tell Gray about Erza! After all, we aren't going to plan every single thing on our own." Gajeel stared at her, still confused on what she was on about. "Erza?..." She ventured, hoping he would get it in the fewest words possible.  
"Oh! It's today, isn't it! Well, we better get more prepared. And yeah, we should probably warn Gray beforehand."

Juvia grabbed Gajeel's hand and pulled him up. It was time to execute their plan, and she quickly texted Gray, knowing that he would be grateful for her reminder. The day was sure to end in a bang.

**\\(*^-^*)/**

Erza panted, walking very slowly. She had chosen to fight all the students in her way, and now she felt tired. Her clothes were sticking uncomfortably to her, but luckily she could still wear them if she got a quick shower. She scanned the perimeter before going to the girls' bathroom. Unlike other public schools, the girls' bathroom was legitly a bathroom. It had large cubicles dedicated to every single student and in those cubicles were baths, showers, sinks, toilets and every other necessary thing that you would find in your own bathroom. Unlike the girls, the boys' bathrooms were much less civilised. The boys always walked in on each other naked and were just loud and obnoxious **(as the rumours told, she never has been in the guys' bathrooms O-O. That would be a whole other fanfiction that I'm certainly not exploring...)**

She took off her clothes, left them on the floor and entered her cubicle. She knew for a fact that no one would enter the girls' bathrooms right now, as pretty much everyone was on the other side of the school, and almost every girl was either now trapped or unconscious. Erza started having a shower while humming, loving the feeling of the warm water on her skin. It was the perfect temperature, not scalding hot or ice cold **(I've had ice cold showers, and never again! ~ They are so horrible, you wouldn't believe. But I had to, because I was in Ghana and it was so hot there xD. Now I never have them because I'm in the glorious England, cold and cold :D).**

What Erza didn't know was that Gray had been tracking her on his phone, after he had found a door to get out of that underground hideout. Gray had also gotten a text from Juvia and Gajeel, and he was pleased that they actually remembered what he had asked. He had already done his part of the plan, so it was their turn to finish, as well as Lucy and Natsu. The phones showed all the SC members in the colours they usually represented, and of course Erza had been Red.**So surprise surprise**when Gray had found her in the girls' bathroom. On one hand, it was probably very morally wrong, but on the other, the rules sated that they could go absolutely **anywhere**, no questions asked. He walked in sluggishly and he saw that some clothes were carefully placed on the floor. He looked up to see Erza's name tag. _Perfect._**_(_****O-O...)**

Erza was still in the shower, but she didn't like feeling grimy or dirty. She placed some shampoo gel on her hair and started rubbing her temple, pleased that she was finally starting to relax.  
"Hey, long time no see," said a low voice from outside the door. In an instant, Erza turned off the pipes. _No...No! He can't be here, not while I'm like this! Shoot, my clothes!__  
_"So, I'm guessing you know who I am," Gray whispered with a bit of sarcasm and seduction. Erza visibly shivered while biting on her tongue, hoping that she could just stay silent and not retaliate. She knew that if she said anything, it would probably be angry, and when her clothes where in a 2 meter radius from Gray... Let's just say she was very worried.

"C'mon Erza. All I'm asking is for you to come out. I might even lend you some clothes!" Gray said, making sure she heard. Erza got out of the shower and put a towel around herself. She was definitely not going to go outside. After all, he probably thought that she was completely naked. _Screw guys and their perverted minds, s_he fumed. She still stayed silent, trying to stall for time she knew was running out very fast. She heard a soft, bemused chuckle from behind the door and her heart sped up. Half the reason was because she knew that he would do something, the other half (which she completely disregarded) was that his laugh was so damn ... _hot._She slapped herself internally, angry at her stupid brain making her think of him as even mildly attractive once again. As the silence lingered, she had used her hair drier to dry her hair and taken the hair rollers to make her hair curly, like before.

"Fine, I see how it is," he said in a breathy voice. "Guess I'll just take your clothes then." She could practically hear the smile in his voice.  
"No!" she screamed, having enough of this charade. She removed the hair rollers (which had made her hair the perfect type of curly), made sure that her towel covered her adequately and it was 100% secure before rushing to unlock the cubicle door to confront Gray.

What she didn't expect was to see that no one was near the door, or anyone in the vicinity. She groaned. Why couldn't he just be nice?

...

"Announcement from Juvia and Gajeel! It seems that all the students have been wiped out, except for a girl. So, now all the Student Council members are moderately safe, but this student is still close, so please be careful! The SC race will end in ten minutes. All rules are now nullified, if she manages to touch one of you guys, even for one second, then she wins!" Juvia said before turning off the microphone again.

"What was the point of that? She isn't going to win, so why implement that rule?" questioned Gajeel while on the phone, simultaneously talking to her and the person on the other end of his phone.  
"Don't you think that a bit of drama needs to be stirred?" asked Juvia instead of answering his question. He shrugged, now shouting at the person who wasn't listening to his requests on the phone.

"Gajeel. Who is this girl closest to right now?" she asked, barely containing her laughter. Gajeel ended the phone call after arranging everything and distractedly looked at the dot of the girl.  
"Oh..."  
"Yes, oh..!"  
"You are evil, you know that?"  
"Muhuhahaha! It's my job, and I think it will push her to finally take some action and realise something, instead of stalling," Juvia giggled.  
"That...might actually work..."  
"Of course it will, darling!"  
"Don't ever call me that again," Gajeel said sternly. She just gave him the middle finger and yawned, hoping that her plan would actually work.

...

Natsu just received the text from Gray, and also heard the announcement. He started bouncing excitedly, hoping that it would all go well. He texted Gray back that he had already done what he had asked him to do long ago, and that was true. Only ten more minutes, and he could be with Lucy again and all his other friends. He was so surprised that he had actually made friends. Sometimes people found his loudness repulsive, but he just wanted to be cheerful instead of always sad or angry. A lot had happened to him in the past, but now he was living life like he actually wanted to. He wasn't rich and he was sometimes hungry, but he knew that he had a life worth living now.

Talking to Lisanna had also raised his spirits. After thinking that she was dead all this time, he had thought that she had been a ghost when he had seen her. She looked so unchanged yet so different. He hoped one day she would wake up, because he really wanted to say sorry. He didn't feel as guilty now, but it was still his fault. He wanted to rebuild his friendship with her.

He looked at all the unconscious bodies sprawled all around him. Maybe he had gone a _tiny bit_ overboard. Juvia had told him to keep one of Gray's fangirls still conscious, but he didn't really know why. What was she up to? He was glad to hear that he had cleared up the remaining students, but he still felt uncomfortable about that last girl who he had allowed to runaway.

He needed to make more money to support himself, happy and now _Luce._He smiled to himself fondly, glad that every morning when he woke up he saw her and when he slept he still saw her. He knew that it was probably only a temporary thing, but he still cherished it. He knew that he had to somehow help Lucy with her relationship with her father. No child deserved to live without a parent figure, Nastu knew that from personal experience. He had always regretted not trying to talk to his father, but he knew that he could still save his girlfriend from that pain. _Girlfriend._That word was new and as he said it. It rolled off his tongue and it felt like a new sensation. He enjoyed saying it and it made him feel proud of himself. He never thought that through the hardships, he could find happiness.

...

Erza had searched the whole area of the girls' bathroom. He wasn't anywhere in sight, so she finally gave up. As she walked back to her cubicle, still in her towel, she stopped suddenly. Cold arms were wrapped around her shoulder and stomach. She didn't even have time to blush profusely at _his_touch, because his lips were close to her neck and just his general presence made her heart go in a tangent. She didn't even realise when she placed her hands on his own. She felt his smile on her neck.  
"You know, it's actually been way more than twenty five seconds Erza, so I own you," he whispered on her neck. She wanted to giggle at the feel of his lips so close to her, but she felt like it really wasn't appropriate, as only one item of clothing was separating them.  
"Oh shut up!" she finally whispered.  
"Hey, all the rules are gone, so now you are with me for a whole day. Now, go in your cubicle and get changed, there's a big surprise for you." Erza turned her neck to face him and his beautiful eyes, wondering what the hell he was on about.  
"Trust me," was all it took before Erza was unconsciously walking back to her cubicle. When she reached it, she heard the ten second countdown to state the race was nearly ending.

She saw that he had left her a beautiful black and red puffy dress **(if you want to see it, type black and red dress, and choose the one you prefer :) ).**The top half was a sort of blood red while the bottom had large frills with roses placed randomly and evenly apart from each other. She loved it completely, and was so glad for his taste in clothes. Her hair was still in its perfect curls, so she was glad that when she wore the dress it made her look nice. **(who are we kidding here, she probably looked like the bomb :D)**

...

"5..." Juvia continued the countdown, hoping the girl would hurry up.

"4..." She was close. But would she make it?

"3..."

"2..."

"1..."

"0!" As soon as she said the number zero, the girl wildly made for Gray and touched him. Juvia could use that as an excuse!

"Well done SC members, we have won! And Erza, tomorrow you belong with Gray for a whole day, enjoy each other! However, Juvia and Gajeel feel sorry for the girl, as she was so close. That is why, we have allowed her to have Gray for two hours next tomorrow!" she said, glad she could say that without faltering slightly. Gajeel mockingly clapped at her, but she just ignored him.

...

Gray was baffled. Out of nowhere, this girl had suddenly jumped him. As soon as she had done that, she had run away from _embarrassment?_And what was up with Juvia making that rule? He knew that she had dragged on a bit with the countdown, so her touching him was probably invalid. He shook his head in disbelief before seeing the Scarlet haired maiden walk up to him.

He knew she looked good in anything, but he was completely stunned by how beautiful she looked. With her Scarlet hair all curly and side swept on her shoulder, the dress couldn't compare to her beauty. He didn't realise that his mouth had been wide open until she had smirked at him shyly. He quickly snapped out of it and held out his arm for her like a gentleman, and she took it. They walked all the way up the roof and Erza gaped at the helicopter.

"W..what's all this?" She asked, shocked.  
"Do you really think that I would forget your own Birthday?" Gray asked. Erza turned to stare at his face, and he just gave her a large smile. Speechless, she entered the helicopter with him, and he explained to her how the Student Council and him had been planning her Birthday for ages. She never spoke a word, but her smile grew as he continued talking. When the helicopter finally landed on a rooftop of a building, they both exited, thanking the pilot. They entered the building and saw Natsu, Lucy, Juvia and Gajeel.

"Happy Birthday!" They all said at the same time. Erza broke down crying there and then, so glad that she had made such caring friends. She hadn't even told anyone, and they had bothered to find out her Birthday. She knew that she didn't have long to live, and making it to her 16th Birthday showed just how much of a fighter she was. Everyone entered into a group hug with her and she gladly accepted it. After the emotional embrace, Natsu said, "Let's get this party started!"

They partied until they were all exhausted, drinking, eating, dancing and singing. Natsu, Lucy, Gajeel and Juvia left after a while, a couple of minutes before midnight. Erza took time to finally inspect the room tiredly, exhausted from the day. There walls were red and there were three large couches accompanied with transparent glass tables. There were balloons everywhere that said "Happy 16th Birthday Erza!" and she saw that they were all customised into funny faces, which made her giggle. There was a dance floor that looked like one of those at a 60s disco with a stage and a karaoke machine and a screen to show the lyrics. There was also a stray microphone that Erza had the urge to pick up.

"Let's dance!" Gray said as he used a remote to play a slow song. She took his hand and they slow danced, him taking the lead while his hands were on her waist and her hands where on his neck. She placed her head on his chest, relishing the moment. She felt extremely grateful to Gray for... Everything. She felt like she had to do something for him. As he spun her round, she let go of his hand and walked up on the stage and took the microphone.

"Gray, I know I'm not the greatest at showing gratitude but I'm so so grateful for everything you've done for me. I have another secret that I don't really like telling anyone. You probably forgot it, but.. here it is. One of my other big secrets... This song is how I feel..."

( watch?v=SbAUzcuvVYc) **Copy this and listen while reading, or look at the vid, it's so cute :3!**

" If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea  
I'll sail the world, to find you,  
If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see  
I'll be the light, to guide you

Ohhh..

To find out what we're made of,  
When we are called to help our friends in need,

You can count on me like 1,2,3 I'll be there,  
And that's when I need it I can count on you like 4,3,2  
You'll be there,  
Cause that's what friends are supposed to do oh yeah...

Uhhuhhuh x2..."

Erza had sang in her perfect voice and stylised the song to sing it at a slower tempo, which made the song even more meaningful. Gray hugged her when she stopped singing. Her voice was incredible and he faintly remembered hearing her singing voice before. He sincerely hoped that he could hear her singing more, because it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard from a human being. He promised himself that he would protect her and her beautiful voice from anyone who tried to harm it. Erza giggled at his touch, because he was almost crushing her insides with his hug.

"Sorry," he mumbled while ruffling his hair out of habit. Erza took Gray's hand from his hair and started patting his head slowly, so he would stop ruffling his own hair. Gray enjoyed her patting his head and smiled down at her. After stopping, Erza looked at the clock in the room, signalling that there was only five minutes left before her Birthday was finally over. For the first year of her life, this was the only Birthday that she actually wanted for it to last longer. She dragged him to the couch and they sat down, commencing their talking. They had been doing a lot of that lately...

"So, when did you get into music?" asked Gray.

"When I was quite young... Maybe five or something.."

"And why didn't you join a band or something, you are just... so talented at it!"

Erza stayed silent for a few moments, contemplating what she wanted to say to Gray. "I guess that I was in a band." She didn't continue, so Gray playfully prodded her cheeks as she was staring at her hands with concentration. She swatted his finger away with a small smile, glad that he was still with her. This was the first time that she hadn't spent her Birthday with her parents on Skype...

Her parents!

She quickly rushed around the room, trying to find any computer or laptop that also had a camera. When she didn't find one, she started panicking. "What's wrong?" Gray asked, confused.  
"My parents will be so worried that I didn't even bother to say hello on my Birthday!" she screamed, feeling pathetic inside. Of all the days that she forgot the most important people in her life.  
"Don't worry, I already talked to them," Gray said calmly. He patted down the seat next to him, gesturing for Erza to sit down. Flabbergasted, she sat, not really comprehending what the hell was happening. Gray clicked another button on his ever mysterious remote, and a TV screen slid down from a wall. It covered the whole wall, so you can imagine how big it really was. He clicked another button, and two figures appeared. One that looked like an adult version of Erza with slightly more purple looking hair and a man with Silver hair, but not from age as he looked very young, probably the same age as the woman next to him.

"Hi our sweet little Erza! Gray told us he will take care of you, so we decided to trust him completely. We love you and hope you have a happy and eventful day!" said the woman cheerily. Erza tried to contain her tears, knowing that she had cried way too much in the past few months.  
"The Gray guy seems a bit shady to me," said Erza's dad, which earned him a hard punch on the shoulder from his wife. Gray and Erza laughed at this, amused by her parents' antics, "But yeah, we hope that everything went well. And young lady, don't think being 16 means finally being able to have a sexual relationship with some boyfriend, you are still not allowed one!"

"Dad!" Erza screamed at the screen while covering her face, too embarrassed because her father was actually already having the sex talk with her again. Like she would even do it with some non-existent boyfriend. She saw her Mum punch her Dad again, and it worked because he instantly shut up about the subject.  
"We love you sweetie and we hope you enjoy your 16th year in this world, Happy Birthday!" Said Erza's Mum, and the last part of the sentence they said together. Erza knew it was pre-recorded, but it still made her smile uncontrollably at how caring her parents (if not a bit over protective) they were of her. She felt eyes on her and she turned around to look at the Raven haired boy, a blush on her cheeks from her father's embarrassing comment.

"You know, your Birthday isn't over yet," Gray said with a mischievous glint in his eye.  
"What?" Erza asked, thinking that there couldn't be another surprise. He grabbed hold of her legs and carried her princess style, which he did with complete ease, even if it had looked almost impossible with that puffy dress.  
"Let go of me!" Erza squealed with a commanding tone, but she didn't feel very commanding. Gray ignored her and carried her to the rooftop. This time however, the rooftop had fairy lights surrounding the perimeter with candles all around, except for a small circular area near the edge of the rooftop. She was placed gently on the floor and he sat down next to her. What she had failed to notice that there was a Blue guitar in that small circular area.

"When you told me that you sang, it made me happy because.. I used to sing. I haven't really done it in a couple of years properly, but I think I'm ready.. Sorry if my voice is crap, but I don't really have time to change it now," he smiled ruefully and Erza sat still, staring at the boy with many talents who was next to her. He coughed, as if he was preparing himself, and strummed the acoustic guitar flawlessly to a familiar tune before his melodious voice started singing,

**This is Take You mixed with Be Alright by Justin Bieber. I don't really care if you hate or love him, the lyrics just fit a lot with the story xD. There are links if you wanna copy and paste while reading this ;) But you guys have to admit, he sings amazing when he sings acoustic O-O..**

**watch?v=Onic5GfykKM (Take you)****  
**watch?v=fdYor70HGVc (Be Alright)****

"I might have a reputation, oh oh,  
It's only me and you in this equation,  
Promise this occasion, oh oh,  
It's a different situation,  
For your information,  
Don't get me wrong,  
You know it's right,  
Don't be so cold,  
We could be fire,  
Tomorrow we go,  
Let's start tonight,  
You know what it's all about,  
I can take you out,  
I can take you home,  
I can take you ohh,  
We could make it slow,  
I can take you home,  
Oh oh oh, where you wanna go,  
We could take it slow,  
I can take you home, oh oh oh

Across the ocean, across the sea,  
Startin' to forget the way you look at me now,  
Over the mountains, across the sky,  
Need to see your face and need to look into your eyes,  
Through the storm and, through the clouds,  
Bumps on the road and upside down,  
I know it's hard baby, to sleep at night,  
Don't you worry,  
Cause everything's gonna be alright,  
Ai-ai-ai- aight,  
Be alright, ai-ai-ai-aight,  
Through the sorrow, and the fights,  
Don't you worry,  
Cause everything's gonna be alright,  
Ai-ai-ai-aight, Be alright."

Erza looked at him in bewilderment. How could such a heart breaking voice belong to such a _perfect_ human being. She mentally slapped her brain for calling Gray _perfect_while she gazed at him, transfixed. Her whole body was shivering from how incredibly he had sung.  
"That bad, huh? Guess I am a bit rusty..." said Gray, not seeing her expression as she hadn't said anything yet.  
"That was the most incredible and mind blowing thing I've ever heard in my life Gray!" Erza started before she could stop herself. She talked to fast that it had taken her less than three seconds to say that whole sentence. Gray smiled at her, relief evident in his expression. She smiled back and wanted to add a snide comment to end the night in fun banter,

"Although, I didn't think you were much of a Justin Bieber fan, and did you just call me baby?" She wiggled her eyebrows, and he pushed her with his elbow while saying, "Oh shut up." They both laughed light-heartedly, glad that they knew when they were kidding with each other. All the candles suddenly stopped emanating light, and Erza thought that it was a really strong gust of wind, but she clearly hadn't felt it. Loud bangs were heard, and she looked up to see fireworks that said "Happy 16th Birthday Erza!" Right there and then, she cried again. The emotions just took her over as tears went down her cheeks as she watched the various messages the fireworks said,

"Hope you can eat more spicy food with me in the years to come!"

Natsu. Definitely Natsu.

"I'm so glad I got to meet you and you are so amazing and I'm so glad you even consider me your friend!"

Clearly Lucy, as it was the longest message.

"Keep on being epic, Queen of the Fairies."

Gajeel. He hated that nickname, but he always used it to refer to the Fairy Tail students.

"JUVIA LOVES YOU ERZA, EVEN THOUGH JUVIA HATED YOU BEFORE!"

Well, that was very obvious. _Juvia hated me?_She thought, a bit taken aback.

"To eternity together, my Titania"

... Gray. Erza blushed at the whole thing, because what did he mean by _eternity and my? I'm not yours!_Erza smiled at all of them and she was so glad to have such amazing friends.

This was the most amazing, brilliant, magical, fantastic, epic (and so many more adjectives) Birthday ever.

No contest.

**Finally finished! I'm actually super proud of this chapter actually :D. It actually got deleted ( a whole 5k) because my stupid computer thought it would be the best time to update -.-... SMH! Anyway, I'm so glad you guys seem to enjoy this story. We are actually getting pretty close to halfway O-O... I'll update at random times because I have important exams and all that other stuff, but I want to try at least two chapters a week because I'm really excited to write more :D. Now the story is on track, I feel light headed and happy with euphoria :p. Soz for any mistakes, it was the spelling troll :p (joking xD).Keep on smiling my adorable, beautiful little chibis and have an awesome day. And yes, you can eat your breakfast, lunch , dinner** **or just snack because of how long this chapter was xD Honestly though, I'm so thankful for all your support and keep on staying strong and love the things in life that make you happy :D.**

**Roxanne xxxxx**


	21. Downhill

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/n: Hello all my lovely people! How've you guys been? :p It's better not to ask how I am, as all I'm feeling is muscle pains everywhere xD. I hope you guys have been doing good! After the happy chapter, it is sadly time to bring the heart- wrenching ones back because I planned it already and I'm not gonna change it (sowwy :( ). Also, it's probably gonna be a short chapter, just because there won't be much to write (sowwy again). At least it will give you more time to do something productive :D (Or you can procrastinate, just like me ;p). Send feedback if you think my writing is absolutely atrocious or you want me to add something in the storyline, I still haven't finished planning the story ;) Enjoy you beautiful people :D! Oh and also, A BIG WHOOP FOR REACHING 5K VIEWS! :D**

**Chapter XXI: Going Downhill from Here**

**Erza's mansion 7:23 PM**

The Student Council event had been a huge success (even if the whole school had been unconscious) and Erza was still feeling pretty euphoric from her Birthday party. She had been so surprised and amazed that her friends had even bothered trying to know when her Birthday was, because no one else had cared but her parents throughout her life. Even though it was a hard fact to swallow for most people (since Erza was always loud and commanding), Erza was actually the youngest Student Council member. It seemed unbelievable to most people, because she seemed like the wisest and most respected, like an elder. The Student Council members were all allowed two mandatory weeks off school because of their hard work, and Erza had only been allowed to begrudgingly agree, worried about the chaos that would occur without her there present.

Currently, Erza was reading a novel while on her bed, which she held tightly because the main character was making terrible decisions. People knew she had a sweet tooth and loved sweet things, but she also loved the sweet things in life - per example, romance novels. Even though the book had been categorised as a romance novel, there was practically none as the main character's partner did not care for the main character, only what he would earn after they married. She heard a small noise, but chose to ignore it knowing exactly where the noise was located and who it was. She was far too invested in the book to have time for idle human communication. She had already thanked her friends at the Birthday party countless of times, and she didn't talk to anyone else after them, purely because she had wanted alone time to reflect and entertain herself. She continued reading the novel, urging the main character to follow her dreams and to make that life changing decision.

Another loud ping came from her phone, all too present. Erza wanted to ignore it, she really did, but her book had once again become frustrating because the main character had made an obscene decision which had angered Erza even more. To be honest, the distraction was quite welcome in that moment. She placed her favourite bookmark and sluggishly got off her bed. Her phone was all the way across her room, so it made the task of getting her phone very undesirable. When she finally reached her desk, where her book was, her eyesight blurred for a few moments before coming into focus again. She unlocked her screen and it said she had two text messages from none other than the infamous _Iceboy._

_Iceboy:__  
__Hey :)_

...

_Iceboy:__  
__Call me as soon as you see this message :p_

And she complied without a second thought, not even thinking of the consequences of her actions.

"Hey," said an all too familiar voice: Gray.

"What's up?"

"We're using informal language now?" asked Gray, sarcastic curiosity coating his voice.

"Well I thought I would enter your yankee culture, but we are both very uncomfortable so I should probably stop," said Erza while trying to contain a smirk. (She failed).

"Aww, I quite liked it. I guess it was bound to go soon. And what the heck took you so long? Twenty minutes, forty eight seconds and 3 milliseconds!" Gray said with mock horror.

"I'm sorry, your highness for not wanting to let go of a well written book. I will make sure to answer you immediately next time. By the way, you picked up great habits from me," she added, feeling more confident as the conversation continued on.

"I am your highness, and I do accept your apology. And of course, I pick my habits from only the best," he chuckled. Erza couldn't stop the colour slightly tinting her face, but it was okay because he wasn't there, so he couldn't judge her.

"So why did you call me, Iceboy?"

"I think our relationship is good enough to just call each other our names, agreed? And I have a present for you Erza!" Gray beamed quietly at his phone screen. What could his surprise be?

"You are so full of surprises _Gray. _What is it?" she asked, curiosity overwhelming her. Before she got to hear his response, she was suddenly on the ground, blood flowing down her face. As she had been holding the phone, her legs had wobbled and made her fall, banging her forehead on her desk table and now she was sprawled on the floor, figuring out what happened. Her eyesight was going blurry again and she couldn't see anymore. Her phone felt like lead and all her body was still on the floor. She couldn't move. She couldn't talk. She couldn't scream for help...

Her hearing was also going, hearing a worried Gray shouting, but only really hearing it as a whisper in the wind. Her phone dropped out of its hold from her hands and then she was unconscious, gone to the world...

* * *

**Outside Erza's Mansion 7:53 PM**

Gray had heard a loud thump, and Erza wasn't talking. He could barely hear her breathing, and he instantly got worried. Instead of caring about how many laws and rules he was breaking, Gray punched the large window with his bare hands. Because of its enormity, Gray was easily able to fit through it, even though he had a bloody hand. He ignored the red liquid and the pain, fearing for the Scarlet haired's life. He sprinted up the stairs, deeming it much quicker than an elevator. He opened the door to her bedroom in a flourish and saw her there, unconscious and pale.

He lightly touched her head and felt that she was burning up. He knew that it definitely wasn't a fever, because a few minutes before she had seemed completely fine. He knew Erza should have listened to the doctors and been less stubborn when they asked her to stay for at least another week! He noticed that she was slightly bleeding, probably from the impact on the desk. He took off his shirt and wrapped it around her head, hoping that it would do for a few minutes. He was no first aid expert, but he knew for a fact that if he panicked, she would be in even more danger.

Without hesitation, he held her in his arms and ran to his car to drive her to the hospital. The drive was uneventful and it seemed that the whole world was against him helping her because every traffic light they met turned red as soon as his car was in sight. He was fuming by the time they had reached the hospital, but at least they were mildly safe, as Gray's driving had been reckless and many potential car accidents could have happened that night. He briskly walked to the receptionist, sweat covering his chest and forehead and demanded for a doctor to see Erza immediately. The receptionist had just stared dumbly at Gray, too transfixed on his messy hair and perfect six pack.

To get her attention and stop her wandering eyes, Gray banged the reception desk and said with a slow, low drawl, "I said, get me a doctor before I fucking burn this place down." The receptionist's eyes went wide and her mouth had hanged open, shocked that such a handsome guy could be so threatening. Scared for her life, she rushed to the phone and called for a doctor. To Gray's luck _(fucking finally) _it was the same female doctor that knew about Erza and her condition. She smiled when she saw Gray and as her eyes landed on Erza, her expression became clouded with worry and she quickly ordered around the nurses to get her into the emergency room in that moment.

Gray followed them as he continuously rubbed his hands on his jeans, worried sick for Erza. She had been completely fine, and now suddenly it was all going so much worse. He didn't think he could take it if he almost lost her again. As the doors of the ER opened and shut in front of him, he was requested to stay and wait. They did not look hopeful one bit...

Gray sat in the chair, all the worst possible thoughts clouding his thought process. _What if... _Was a constant thought. He tried to get himself out of that reverie, but his mind would keep on thinking that question. _What if...?_

* * *

**Park 5:50 PM**

Lucy's father, Jude Heartfilia was sitting on a park bench, feeling bitter. His only child, Lucy had ran away from home. He shuffled through the countless pictures of his family, thinking of all the life decisions he made. The last picture was of a beautiful woman with Blonde hair and a beautiful smile. _Layla..._

_What did I do so wrong that I even broke my promise to you!? _He thought while looking at the sky, knowing that his wife was watching him. He was not a man to have many emotions. After he had married Layla (Lucy's mother), he had wanted to give her the best life possible. He had always remembered a quote his father had said when he was little, because he had had a really poor childhood: _Money is happiness. _He had believed that quote all his life, even to this day. He had used his business ideas and now he was one of the most richest people in Magnolia, probably the world.

But what had it cost him? Countless arguments with the wife he loved; the tears she had cried everyday he had not been home; the bad drinking habit; his wife's death; and now, his daughter's hatred which lead to her leaving him. He didn't deserve any of this! He had done what he thought- no knew!- what was best for his family only to be repaid by everyone abandoning him.

He couldn't care less about being alone- he had been alone all of his life. What made a man powerful was not his economic status, or how he treated others, but how close he could keep his family. In that aspect, he failed completely, having no other relatives but his daughter, and she had gone and shamed him by leaving him. It was still top secret that his daughter had left him- nobody knew. If people find out, they would consider him a laughing stock and his stocks would go down. He couldn't afford that. He gruffly put his family photos into his suit pocket as he was standing up. Mid-standing, he saw something that shocked him...

Lucy... and she was with another guy... What was she doing! Out of the blue, he saw the Salmon haired boy lean down to kiss his daughter, and they kissed. What infuriated him the most was that it lingered, and she had never smiled that blissfully at him before. Ever. Pure rage in his veins, Jude stormed up to Lucy to pull her away from the kiss, and she looked at him with complete shock.

**Dun dun dun! Cliff-hangers everywhere :p This chapter is meh, but it conveys at least a little of what I wanted to happen xD. I'm so hungry O-O Stay happy my little chibis and remember to smile- keep close all the things in life that make you happy :p And I'm using my sis as slave labour, muhuHAHAHAHA! (Not really, she was supposed to check it anyway :p). Lots of happiness all around, and keep on making yourself happy :D \\(*^-^*)/ XXXXX**

**Roxanne~**


	22. RINGS: TEP

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/n: Hiya guys! :D So, here's another chapter for you :p. I wanted to write some stuff on the last chapter, but I didn't so I'll write it to clear up what the hell Gray's surprise was xD. I'm actually going to have a lot of fun writing this chapter, as the smokescreen that I have put in your minds is going to slightly become cleared :p (you'll get the metaphor when you read :D). Just a little note, reading chapter 12 at the end of the third chapter would probably refresh your memory on the current events xD I don't even know what is with this timeline anymore xp. And I'm also feeling so much better, so thumbs up for my body not being completely useless at healing itself :D! Sorry if this chapter isn't that long x3 And I hope you guys are all feeling happy :D And if not, hugs from me \\(*^-^*)/. Lego!**

**Chapter XXII: RINGS: The Eternal Promise**

**Gray's house - 5 PM (Same day as last chapter)**

Gray was scrolling through channels on his plasma TV, trying to find a channel that seemed remotely interesting. After endless scrolling, something that peaked his interest finally came up:

**Battle of the Bands**

He saw that last year, teenagers had auditioned to play any type of music and get a score until one band/group/soloist would come out victorious and win a million Jewels and a record deal. As the band that won last year was playing some generic rock music, Gray started having a wave of nostalgia...

_Gray was tuning his ice Blue and white bass guitar, nervous for his first performance. He had formed a small duet with his friend Cana because he had really enjoyed the way music made him feel. Gray was nervous because this was going to be their first performance, and he didn't want to fuck it up (even though he was only performing to Ul and Lyon). His palms were becoming sweaty and he wasn't tuning the guitar properly, and Cana noticed._

_"Don't be so nervous, Gray! They will love your voice," she said as she gave a warm smile to him, her presence like the essence of an angel. This was when Cana had been a completely angelic child that followed the rules.__  
__"I'm not!" Gray denied a bit too quickly. Cana just shrugged with a small giggle and patted his back encouragingly, hoping that he would loosen up a bit. Gray was less tense, but he was still panicking inside. What if they didn't like him? What if they hated his voice? Would they torment him forever about it? The hectic thoughts quickly dispersed when he heard Cana's sweet voice filtered through a microphone._

_"Welcome lady and gentleman! Today, the greatest duo will serenade you into pure bliss as you hear the beautiful melodies and harmonies combined together to form the best music in the world! May I present to you... Cana Alberona! Aka, me!" She boomed, and the audience of two giggled in the large living room, "And the cutest boy you will ever meet that acts like a tough guy, Gray Fullbuster!" Ul and Lyon cheered loudly for Gray as he stepped up in front of the microphone. He scratched his hair self-consciously, unaware that he had taken his shirt off in the process, and took the microphone close to his lips. Without hesitation, he began singing,_

**(Centuries by FOB- Fall Out Boy :D) /watch?v=LBr7kECsjcQ -You can copy and paste this and click on the first vid :p**

_Cana, the backup singer, sang_

_"Du du du-du du du-du du du-du du du-du du du du"_

_And Gray sang the main parts,_

_"Some legends are told,__  
__Some turn to dust or to gold,__  
__But you will remember me,__  
__Remember me for centuries,__  
__And just one mistake,__  
__Is all it will take,__  
__We'll go down in history,__  
__Remember me for Centuries!"_

_As Gray rocked out on his bass guitar, Cana used the keyboard while singing,_

_"He eh eh eh ya,__  
__He eh eh eh eh,__  
__He eh eh eh ya,"_

_And together they sang,_

_"Remember me, for Centuries!"_

_Then, Gray soloed again, passion and pain mixed together to perform a beautiful verse,_

_"Mummified my teenage dreams,__  
__No there's nothing wrong with me,__  
__The kids are all wrong,__  
__The story's all off,__  
__Heavy metal broke my...__  
__Heart!__  
__C'mon c'mon and let me in,__  
__The bruises on your thighs like my fingerprints,__  
__And this is supposed to match,__  
__The darkness that you felt,__  
__I never meant for you to fix yourself!"_

_And Cana gracefully sang the backup vocals again,_

_"Du du du-du du du-du du du-du du du-du du du du"_

_And Gray rocked out again,_

_"Some legends are told,__  
__Some turn to dust or to gold,__  
__But you will remember me,__  
__Remember me for centuries,__  
__And just one mistake,__  
__Is all it will take,__  
__We'll go down in history,__  
__Remember me for Centuries!"_

_All was silent when Gray finished his flawless performance. They both panted heavily on their microphones, awaiting the final judgement. Suddenly, Ul and Lyon clapped madly at them and hugged them both, very impressed that Gray, a secretive child, could be so amazing at singing. Gray had beamed so much that his face had hurt from all the smiling and laughing and Ul even said, "You should sing to me lullabies, your voice is so beautiful!"_

Gray snapped out of his nightmare as he realised that the music programme had ended. He missed the days that he could just rock out with Cana or sing sweet songs. After _her_ death, he had no will to sing anymore. Now, he had someone to sing for. Someone he could make happy with his voice. He had never actually been able to follow Ul's request, but maybe he could do it for a certain Scarlet haired girl. As soon as the idea entered his head, Gray rushed up to his room and took his acoustic dark blue guitar. As he slammed his room door shut, he looked at the White door opposite his own. _Strange... I haven't heard from Lyon in ages._

Nevertheless, the excitement of what he was about to do swerved his train of thought as he carefully placed his guitar in his car and drove to Erza's house. He smirked as he thought, _I bet the Titania would love a lullaby to fall asleep._

* * *

**Hospital - Where we left of on Gray, Cana's room**

Cana nervously played with her thumbs while she waited for Lyon to arrive. Her cushion was on her back and she was in a sitting position, stitches and cuts all over her body. Luckily, she wasn't too injured, unlike Lyon that had been in a much worse condition with a broken rib-cage and a broken leg. Cana shivered, not from the cold, but from the prospect of what she had to talk to the White haired buy about. She didn't deserve Hibiki, or Lyon, or anyone. She felt so worn out and worthless. How could she right all the wrongs? Hibiki would surely forgive her, as he had all the patience in the world, but what would happen if she accidentally did it again? In her heart, she knew that she would never do it again, but the prospect of it still terrified her. Hibiki still hadn't bothered to contact her, and she was worried and glad at the same time. He wouldn't want to see her in this state, not especially after...

She snapped out of her dark thoughts, switching them to all the best memories with Hibiki. Who was she kidding? All thoughts and memories with Hibiki were the best. She looked at her left hand and smiled while rubbing her stomach.

_"Cana, what's wrong?" questioned Hibiki in his worried voice. Cana stared absentmindedly at him, too tired to function. She had an important exam today that she couldn't skip, but she felt absolutely vile. All her bones were aching and she was sick, her tanned complexion looking so much paler than usual. She had wanted to avoid Hibiki at all costs, because no matter how great of an actress she was, she knew that he would figure her out right way. She focused on his expression once again and shook her head to tell him without speaking that she was fine. Her throat hurt too much to speak. Hibiki had pestered her before she had felt faint and as she stood up, she had almost fallen on the cold hard ground. Luckily, his reflexes were amazing and he had caught her. He then proceeded to examine her boiling forehead before carrying her off on his shoulder. Cana couldn't even scream at him to put her down, and he took her to the nurse's office before dropping her gently on a bed and making sure she had medicine. Cana had tried to reach out to him to tell him to send her back, because he knew that the exam was extremely important and she would fail if she wasn't present at it, but her arms had failed her. He had run away and before she could see him re-enter, she fell asleep.__  
__She woke up with Hibiki staring at her lovingly. She smiled shyly at him and hugged him, feeling so much better. She noticed that the nurse's office was dark, so it was probably really late. She sighed, dismayed and said, "I failed the exam, didn't I?"__  
__Hibiki softly chuckled before pulling away from the hug and saying, "I went to the teacher and compromised with him, so you can retake your test." He had a sheepish smile as he said this, and Cana's eyes were as big as oranges before she pulled his tie and pulled him into a loving, passionate kiss.__  
__"I don't tell you this enough..."_  
_"What?" Hibiki asked, confused,_  
_"I love you!" she said before kissing him a bit more gently this time._

Cana felt much more relaxed after that memory, but there was another (recent) memory that stayed engraved in her mind, and it would probably replay in her mind until her death bed,

_Hibiki was holding my hand as he led me somewhere while I was blindfolded. I kept on tripping, because he had told me to dress nice, so I was wearing black high heels with a black dress **(second one if you search black dress and go on images :) ) **and as I wasn't so used to heels (as sneakers are my bae) it was like a new born deer walking- absolutely hopeless. It was even harder because I couldn't see anything, but I trusted Hibiki with all my life. I could feel the texture of the floor changing, and I heard the swishing of strong currents and a salty smell. Before I could guess where we were, he removed the blindfold. There were lights on the sand everywhere, and I realised that we were at the beach, where we first met. I started crying at how romantic he was, and my mascara started going down- great, so much for beauty being a girl's best friend. As I looked like the black widow, Hibiki chuckled and smiled at me sweetly before leaning down on one knee..._

_Oh my gosh... is this happening?_

_He took out a small velvet box from his trouser pocket (he was wearing a suit, and he looked damn fine!)_

_I started hyperventilating, unsure if this is where he was really going with the gesture._

_He opened the box and by heart started beating at a highly worrying rate._

_It was a ring! AND IT WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE EXISTENCE!_

_He coughed shyly as I had a hand on my mouth, trying not to tell him to hurry up and KISS ME!_

_"Cana, you know I'm not very good with words but... Hey babe! I know that you and I were meant for each other. I know that what happened yesterday and the events that followed almost broke us, but hey, we were meant to be together. And I would like to extend our time together to... forever. Not everyone has to know, at least not right away. I want to make you mine always, so Cana Alberona, will you please marry me?"_

_Without any doubt in my mind, I grabbed the ring, put it on my fourth finger on my left hand and screamed, "YES!YES! AND A BILLION TIMES YES!" Before squeezing him in a bone crushing hug and kissing him. Even if we would fight and hate each other, we would remain strong together..._

Cana really hoped that what she thought that day would apply again. Cana's father had been against Hibiki from the start, and he had hated it even more when she had told him that they were getting married. He had always been a difficult man, but he had always respected her decisions. Now that the wedding date drew nearer, he still didn't want to have any part in the wedding, and that was why Cana and Hibiki had been disagreeing with each other. She knew that if her father didn't listen, she would either have to marry him secretly or not marry Hibiki, even after all the sacrifices he had made. Cana screamed, tired of all the stress. Another memory pulled her away from her anger into sadness,

_After the crash, Lyon and I were quickly transported to Magnolia hospital. The doctors checked that I was safe and that nothing was wrong, also checking something else that would have broken me if it had disappeared. After hours of waiting, Lyon was also safe and as soon as he had woken up I had hugged him. In the past few days that we had gotten to talk to each other again, we had finally rekindled our friendship. Not thinking clearly, too scared of him almost dying, I told him everything about Hibiki, me and my condition. He had listened and had suddenly kissed me. Hungry for attention, I had kissed him back, not really caring who I was kissing as long as I could imagine it was Hibiki. I pulled back, ashamed of myself. Why was I so fickle? Lyon looked hurt and I had run away, rubbing at my lips to make the taste of him go away. How could I have done this to them? I was a terrible person..._

Cana had left a note for Lyon to visit her, in hope that she could apologise, angry at herself for succumbing to anything that felt close to love. She also needed to right her wrong because of the life that she now held, as the alcohol had been banished from her life.

_Cana and Hibiki were both drunk and they kissed and touched each other all over. As they finally reached Hibiki's room, lust turned into passion and their clothes were off.__  
__They woke up the next morning, both confused why they were both on the same bed. As Cana stared at her and Hibiki's naked body under the covers, she screamed, "OH SHIT!" Hibiki had instantly felt more awake as he now saw what she was screaming about. They had actually gone and done it now. Their relationship was serious, even if they sometimes went a little overboard with the kissing, but they never went this far! Cana grabbed her clothes as she swore under her breath, not looking at the guy who she loved, who also took her virginity. After she was all dressed, she ran away, too scared to confront what had happened. Her father had scolded her for returning so late home, but she had just rushed up to her room and locked the door, too in awe at what had happened last night.__  
__After hours of thinking, a thought finally clicked in her: was she pregnant?! Not thinking that they would go that far, birth control pills were the last thought on her mind. She didn't see if Hibiki had put on anything, so she quickly dressed in all black and a mask with glasses, so no one would think that it was her going into the pharmacy. As she walked into the pharmacy, she looked like a suspicious serial killer right away. She had taken around thirty pregnancy tests, hoping that the 98.9% chances would all say the same thing. She was probably the most irresponsible person ever, so having a child was out of the question. She shivered at the thought of a child in her arms. She was technically still a child herself! After she paid the cashier, who had looked at her sceptically, she had rushed into public toilets to use EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.__  
__They all confirmed one thing... she was PREGNANT! She had ran to Hibiki crying, scared for her life. How could she be a mother? She didn't know the first thing about it! As she had cried on his shoulder, she had explained what she had done. After her sob fest, Hibiki had looked worried, but his main expression was one of pure joy. In that moment, Cana knew she would keep the child and she would love it unconditionally, like Hibiki._

Cana smiled at the memory, laughing at how pathetic she had been when she had rushed to the pharmacy and tried all those pregnancy tests. She missed Hibiki so so much.. As she thought of Hibiki, a familiar pair of eyes and hair were in her sight. **Speak of the Devil :p**

"Hibiki!?" Cana screamed.

**\\(*^-^*)/ (Btw, these hug interlude thingys are for scenes in the same building/ place ;) )**

Gray was panting, exhausted from all the things he had done as he sat down. While thinking of the worst, he didn't see Hibiki pass him, or even Lyon. Lyon however saw Gray, and he jogged slowly to his brother while clutching his side, still in pain.  
"Gray?" Lyon said. Gray looked up, not believing the condition his brother was in. He had cuts everywhere and he looked in really bad shape. He also had a black eye and he looked sickly thin.  
"Lyon! Where the heck have you been? What happened?" he said, already in a more panicked condition than he was before.  
"Calm down bro, I'm fine!" Lyon tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace before it turned into a scowl of pain.  
"No you aren't! Tell me what the fucking hell happened or I swear I will punch you to the ground because I can't deal with any more BS right now!" Gray shouted, anger seeping through his every being. Lyon noticed just how pissed Gray was and sighed, resigned. He knew that his brother would not accept his flimsy answers, so he decided to tell the truth.

"Me and Cana... We were in a car accident. Ultear kinda caused it, but it was also my fault as I was rushing somewhere and Cana also needed to go somewhere. Before you ask, there is only one snobby person with that car type. Anyway, we crashed, and my phone was destroyed so they couldn't contact you. I think hers was destroyed too. We've been in hospital all this time, trying to recover. I didn't want to worry you Gray, you have your own problems." After finishing, he sighed again, exhausted from the reality of the situation.

Gray was a lot calmer and he hugged Lyon, glad that he was alive. Lyon hugged him back just as fiercely, even if it was hurting him in every way. After they both pulled away, Lyon whispered, "I really feel sorry for you... How are you going to get out of it?" Gray's eyes clouded, knowing that there was probably no escape from his fate. One thing that he would never do was break a promise with the dead, and now he was in a living hell. Lyon also whispered something else, but Gray didn't hear it, so he asked Lyon to speak up a bit,

"I said, Cana's pregnant," he said more loudly.

"Oh... WHAT!?"

**And finished ;D Yeah, I quite like this chapter :D I'm sorry if you love smutty fics, but I ain't about that life xD You can't avoid the sex, but I also feel creepy writing it, so let's leave that chapter unturned and use your imagination (if you want xD) to dream up the specifics :p. And so now you know one mystery, may the rest of the mysteries reveal themselves soon enough :p And see, I did actually upload two in a week ;). And yes, I love so much music, so prepare to hear ( or read/ read and hear) tons more :D Stay happy and safe my little adorable chibis \\(*^-^*)/**

**Roxanne~**


	23. Stable

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Hey guys! :D So as I've said, I'll try to upload two times a week and it doesn't mean that I'll update on Sat and Sun, for all you care, I update two in a day, so that's what I'm going to do today :D! Since next week at school is the last week before half term, so there would probably be minimum homework, so I'll just write everyday next week :D I'm kinda pissed tbh but it's nothing too important -.-... Hope you amazingly epic people have a great day filled with happiness, and never forget ze hugs! \\(*^-^*)/ Cominciamo!**

**Chapter XXIII: Stable**

"I said, Cana's pregnant," he said more loudly.

"Oh... WHAT!?" Gray screamed, waking up even the most deaf people in the hospital. He knew Cana was wild and loved to party, but her pregnant? After going pretty much M.I.A after joining the drinkers and then suddenly coming back, she had still looked incapable of actually having sex. Lyon laughed hard at how Gray looked before having a coughing fit, still in extreme pain from the accident. Gray patted Lyon's back gently while he coughed before facing his brother, curious of the news that had been bombarded on him so suddenly.

"And the father?..." asked Gray, uncertain. While the answer seemed plain obvious, Gray remembered that Lyon had always loved Cana and he would do anything for her and if she was upset, she would probably pounce on him because she wanted to get rid of the pain. Cana wasn't one to play around, as she had never cheated on Hibiki, but Lyon was kind of her breaking point because of how close they were when they were little and how they trusted each other with every single secret.

"Hibiki..." Lyon said with a slight hint of disappointment. Gray noticed it, but decided not to investigate it further. At least Lyon would know that he could never be with Cana now, and he was too much of a nice guy to actually take action and break up a relationship as strong as Hibiki and Cana's. Gray patted Lyon on the shoulder to comfort him at the unspoken truth. He wanted Lyon to know that he was there for him, so he could gradually heal from the wounds he had carried since childhood. Lyon smiled and it was so wide and genuine that it could not ever be confused for any other expression. He was glad that Gray knew and would be there for him, but he had omitted a certain fact.

"Gray?"  
"Mmh?" Gray mumbled, now his attention devoted on Erza's spirit through the emergency room door.  
"Hibiki punched me... Because he knows I kissed Cana... I had to tell him..." Lyon gradually whispered with many pauses.  
Gray just gaped at his brother, absolutely stricken with shock at the revelation. Lyon could barely take any action when him and Gray made a bet to who gets a girl's number, and Gray always won. Lyon actually kissing anyone- including Cana- seemed absolutely ludicrous. Then again, Lyon had never been one to hold back if he wanted to win a fight. He looked at Lyon's features to see that his black eye had to be something pretty recent as it still wasn't fully a darkish purple, but more of a pale purple clouding on his eye. Lyon was really honest, but Gray never thought he would ever confess to THAT.

"I.. can't.. What?!" Gray mumbled confused.

**\\(*^-^*)/**

"Hibiki!?" Cana screamed. She had been expecting someone alright, but not her boyfriend/fiancé/future husband. He solemnly sat down on a chair next to her bed and took her hand in his.

"Cana, if you don't want to go through with this wedding or even with this relationship, please tell me..." Hibiki whispered. Cana was about to interject when he interrupted her by speaking again, "I just punched Lyon because he told me about you and him... I don't get it, Cana - am I not enough for you? I don't have to ever come back in your life if you don't want me. All I want is for you to be happy, and if I can't give you that, then tell me what will.." He was interrupted by a loud noise. It was a _clap _sound. Soon, he also felt his cheek stinging. He held his wounded cheek and turned his head in amazement.

"Stop Hibiki! You know I love you, why would you ever think that I would cheat on you because I didn't love you? Lyon is just my childhood friend, and yes I kissed him back but he is still only my friend, nothing more. Please don't think he is any more to me. I want you, I need you Hibiki. I may be crazy sometimes and loud and annoying, but I want to be a great mother and I want you by my side, because if I haven't said it fucking enough times, I LOVE YOU HIBIKI AND NOTHING IN THIS WORLD WOULD CHANGE THAT!"

Throughout her speech, Cana had been crying. Hibiki knew that she was completely serious and everything she said was the truth. He hugged her, fresh tears in his eyes. They just hugged for a few seconds of bliss, remembering each other's touch, feel and scent. They didn't pull away and they didn't need to, because they felt as one in that moment. After both their tears were wiped, Hibiki started chuckling.

"What's so funny?" asked Cana, surprised he could laugh after unloading so much baggage.  
"I would have actually clung on to you and begged you to stay with me even if you said that you wouldn't ever love me." Cana imagined Hibiki clinging on to her as nurses tried to drag him away because she was glaring at him. Cana started giggling too and they were in a fit of laughs.  
"See? I told you it was a funny image!" Hibiki said while still laughing.  
"Not feeling so macho now, are we? And I would have honestly preferred that outcome just to see your face!" Cana giggled.  
"You're such a sadist Mrs. Lates," Hibiki said. Cana blushed at her future title while tingling with happiness. Now she knew for certain that whatever would happen to them could never break their bond, because their feelings were just too strong.

"My name is Lates. Cana Lates, nice to meet ya," she said while winking at Hibiki.  
"The Bond is strong in this one," he said while mimicking an old man's voice. They exploded into further laughter. Yes, they could do it...

They could face her father.

**25 Hours later...**

Lyon had finally returned to his room after staying with Gray for a couple of hours. He had heard the doctors shout in panic a few times before everything suddenly went deathly silent before everything became animated again. Could they not bloody invest in a soundproof room, so he didn't need to have a heart attack every few minutes?

Finally, the emergency turned from red to green. Gray stood up instantly, too impatient to wait for them to call for him. He opened the double doors with flourish, hoping the for best. He saw her Scarlet hair messy and tangled and her features pale. Without the constant beeping from the heart rate machine, she looked like she had been sleeping with the angels. Gray reached for her warm hands and started stroking her tangled hair, wishing he had a comb to make her look more presentable.

"Mr. Fullbuster?" the familiar doctor said. It was the doctor who told Gray about Erza's condition. She smiled thinly at him, probably not because he was there but because she probably only had bad news.  
"Erza Scarlet has grown a lot weaker in the past few days, and we both know it. When she wakes up, which will be soon, we will ask her to stay at the hospital. Her condition is becoming considerably worse and we need to check for any developments. She is strong headed, so we know she will instantly disagree, but we really need her to stay..."

Gray contemplated what the nurse said. On one hand, it would be highly beneficial, but then he remembered how happy she had been on her Birthday and how she had wanted to continue living, not putting her life on pause in a hospital. His decision had been made long ago. He shook his head to say no, not trusting his voice to stay even. He also wanted her selfishly to himself, but he would never admit that to anyone. If she was cooped up in hospital, she would be granted even less time with him and he couldn't take her out or cheer her up. He inwardly shivered at the prospect, hoping the doctor would get the message. As she was about to contradict him, a male doctor grabbed her shoulder and shook his head, warning her not to continue. She resigned at her superior, who was around the same age as her as he was the one who had been taking care of Erza during those 25 hours.

Gray caught that doctor's eye and nodded at him, and he gave a curt nod back, glad that someone was on his side for once. He went back beside Erza, and everyone in the room left them to be alone. The constant beeping reassured Gray that it would all be fine, and that he had nothing to worry about. But he still had a nagging feeling at whether he had chosen right- what if she would have actually preferred staying at the hospital? Who was he to choose what she wanted?

_Speak of the devil... _He thought as Erza had slowly opened her eyes to look at his. She smiled at him and he smiled back. The silent communication was all he needed before he held her hand and helped her to get off the bed, before gently holding her waist to steady her and make sure she was balanced enough. They walked all the way to his car and she collapsed on the seat next to him, exhausted form that simple act of walking. The operation had clearly drained her, so there was clearly only one solution: they would drive back to** that **place.

* * *

**After Erza's Birthday party- Redfox mansion 10:50 PM**

Juvia, Gajeel and Levi all stood in front of the massive oak doors, the prospect of what they were about to do gluing them on the spot. It was finally the time. The time to end the damn engagement. Levi took hold of Gajeel's hand before squeezing it, reassuring him that it would all be alright. He really hoped it would be as his parents were really strict, same for Juvia's parents. Gajeel gulped before pressing on the doorbell, having second thoughts and hoping that no one would be home. The doors abruptly opened, and his prayer soon vanished. He had to be strong for Levi.

They walked forward and the 100 gangsters that were there all bowed to them with respect, and he nodded at them to show that they could raise their heads while giving them a nervous smile. They all knew what was happening and they gave him silent looks of encouragement. Juvia disregarded all their looks of worry as she sped past them to the living room, not out of rudeness but out of pure fear that was coursing through her veins. If she looked at anyone, her resolve would crumble and she would cry with the rain, knowing that the engagement would never be called off.

Their parents sat in the living room, Gajeel's mother and step father and Juvia's mother and father. They all stopped talking as soon as they saw who was there- their children with a Bluenette.  
"Welcome back Gaj," said his mother with a warm smile. Gajeel smiled back. After his despicable.. _Father_ (he spat the words out with as much venom as he could) had abandoned them, his mother had been a complete mess and she had never smiled or showed any expression other than sorrow. After re-marrying, she had been almost back to her normal self, but the scar of her previous husband was still there. Furthermore, she had wanted to change the family name but the elders would have none of it, so Gajeel had been cursed with his father's family name instead of his mother's.

He bowed down to his mother and Juvia and Levi followed suit, hoping that the good mood of the parents would stay during their conversation. "Welcome back Ma, Pa." Gajeel loved his new step father, he had treated him like a son right away and Gajeel would have been honoured to have his last name, but that was not to be as his father's dynasty had to continue, as there were no other candidates. All three teens sat down on cushions, while their parents were on sofas.

"What brings you here Juvia?" asked Juvia's father gruffly, his voice deep, matching his broad stature. Juvia looked at Gajeel, panicked. Was she supposed to speak or would he speak? Gajeel urged her to speak, knowing that when Juvia's father asked for someone to speak to him, he only meant that person and no one else.  
"Father, Gajeel, Levi and I have come to request something calmly. Up to now, we realise that we had not been doing it in the correct manner, but we wish to amend that. Father, me and Gajeel do not want to get married to each other. We realise that every family rule you have established, we have broken, but that is because those rules were not serious. However, just because we are best friends does not mean that we are supposed to fall in love like those cliché Korean movies you watch," Juvia's father blushed at his secret habit, but Juvia continued, "Father, mother, Gajeel's Pa and Ma, we beg you to please let us marry who we want. I have already found my soul mate, and I am willing to fight for him for eternity," Juvia said, her voice never faltering once. Levi also interjected by saying,  
"Sorry to intrude, but I am very much in love with your son and I wish to marry him in the future. I may not come from a distinguished mafia family, but I am smart enough to handle anything and I hope you find me a worthy person for your son," Levi said solemnly.

Both pairs of parents were surprised to hear from the Bluenette, who had bowed at them and been very silent up to now. They all looked at each other before standing up and going to the conference room to discuss their choice. All their minds were already made up, but they knew that they would have to give the illusion of actually conferring.

**Done! Miss. Cliffhanger back and ready to torment you with questions ;p I hope this chapter was okay xD Written it for 2-3 hours, so yeah... Hope you guys stay happy and enjoy life, I'll try to let you guys have more happy moments xD Sorry for any mistakes, it was the evil witch of fanfiction that comes and curses the words O-O (and my sis has been Betaing most of my chapters recently, so you can blame her too ;p) Love you all and thank you for your sweet reviews and even just reading this:3 I'm feeling tons better :D xxxxx**

**Roxanne~**


	24. My Philosophy

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Heya guys! Another short chapter here for my beautiful, amazing adorable little chibis ;p. I'm in the worst seating position ever, but meh x3 I'm always in some random position when writing xD. Nothing really interesting has happened in the past hour or two, so I'll just write and I hope you enjoy xD!**

**Chapter XXIV: My Philosophy**

**Gray's Car - Unknown Location 10 am**

Gray had once again blindfolded Erza, so it was pretty obvious that they were going back to the desert that he wanted to keep oh so secret. Being there had made Erza feel really relaxed, so it was no wonder that he chose to take her there. The medication the doctors had given her made her mind woozy and her footing unstable, but she soon found her balance again and her mind was clearing. The long ride would also occupy her thoughts and make her feel safe. She disliked staying at the hospital, and when she had vaguely heard the doctor trying to persuade Gray into telling her to stay, she had been so worried that he would actually agree. When she heard the doctor trying to say something in protest, she had felt lighter because she knew that Gray would always be there beside her, protecting her.

As they cruised by, Erza tried imagining the roads they were passing, so that her mind wouldn't be filled on the dark thoughts of how she had almost died... She imagined that Gray was driving through a street filled with small shops with lights everywhere, as it was dark. Some would be closed and others would be there for ages. She imagined the people in the street talking on their phones, holding hands, crying, laughing chewing, eating, spilling food all over themselves, smoking, texting, bumping into each other, saying sorry, the crows turning thinner until there was no path for the pedestrians, just a road. Now she imagined the gravel under the car as they were in a pretty deserted area with low trees with bare branches scattered randomly while below them was white sand that looked blue (thanks to the moon's light) and reflected like a diamond. She then imagined a little shop that sold cakes of all kind and imagined walking through it and ordering strawberry cheesecake while her mouth watered. She quickly snapped out of her daydreaming aware that they have stopped.

"Wait a minute," said Gray as she heard two thuds, indicating that he has opened and slammed the car door shut. It couldn't be that they were already there? That seemed unlikely, as the previous car journey had taken much longer than this one. She decided to silently oblige and think about things that would make her happy in life. Seeing her parents would be nice. She hadn't seen them in years, and that was because they were trying to find that stupid cure for her. Erza didn't believe there was a cure, especially when she was little, but she had never voiced her opinions and so her parents had gone on what she believed was a wild goose chase. She sighed, missing their voices, heir hugs, their smiles and the way that they looked at her, as if she was one of the best things in their lives. She sometimes wished that her parents would care less for her, so that they could be happy and stay with her before she inevitably went away. She gazed up, even if she couldn't actually see anything.

The stars... What would they look like today? Erza had always liked the idea of astronomy and horoscopes, even if she wasn't too experienced on the two subjects. Horoscopes were interesting, because it was like your star sign could somehow determine your personality, your compatibility with others and your fate. In most cases, the horoscopes actually worked, but Erza found it annoying when someone obsessed their lives over it as if their horoscope could literally ruin their entire life. Believing in something can be good if you don't make an obsession over it and it drives you insane. A gust of wind blew at Erza and she shivered, realising that Gray was back. Gray saw how she had shivered and placed his jacket around her so that she could feel warmer. Erza smiled with gratitude, glad that Gray always knew what to do in these types of situations. She sometimes felt like she really didn't deserve him, but she would never admit that to him because he could turn from a saint to a cocky bastard.

Gray's cold fingers laced with hers and she felt shock but she didn't flinch away. She squeezed his fingers and this reassured him to grip tighter on her hand. Erza could only think about his touch as he drove on silently, wishing that his hands could always be in hers. The car stopped and Gray reluctantly parted their hands yet again. He didn't say anything, so Erza kept the blindfold on, just in case. After a few minutes, Gray came back and opened the door for her while leading her on the soft sand. Erza had forgotten to wear shoes, so the sand on her feet felt soft and cool, just like someone she knew. Gray went behind Erza after stopping and removed the blindfold slowly and as he did so, he placed the palm of his hands on her eyes, so she couldn't see yet.

"Gray, just let me see!" Erza said desperately, her voice a bit raspy from not talking for ages. He chuckled behind her, something that she was too used to, and finally removed his hands from her face. What she saw was a wooden path that was on water. She noticed that the desert had stopped and now it was just a large sea. She raised her eyebrows at him, not seeing where the path on the water lead to, but he just put his index finger to his lips. He held out his hand to beckon her to come with him, eyes as bright as the stars that were twinkling. With the wind in his hair and shirt, and the stars in the background, he looked perfect. She took his hand with no hesitation. Her patient's clothes transformed (metaphorically) into a beautiful dress that was blue with a gold waist band as she felt blissful. As they walked on, Erza could see dim lights getting brighter as she saw that on a deck there were black cushions with a red mat and candles in the shape of the Fairy Tail logo. It was so beautiful that Erza had to force herself to not cry. What she also failed to notice was that music was coming from somewhere.

**(/watch?v=hT_nvWreIhg) to listen while reading :)**

Counting stars played in the background as she took her seat. She hummed the familiar lyrics, wishing people could sometimes appreciate the stars, not just worry about materialistic things like money. All different shapes and sizes, the stars all had their special significance in the world. Gray interrupted her train of thought when he said,  
"Erza, did you know that humans actually become stars when they die, and they watch over their relatives from up there. That's why there are so many stars every day, even if we can't see them. I always wonder if those stars can ever return back here..."

Erza looked at the boy with Raven hair, a sad smile on his face. It must have been something that his mother, Ul, had taught him. She looked up at the stars and noticed that there were a lot more stars than the last time she had been there.  
"I'm sure Ul's watching you from there," Erza whispered shyly, not looking at Gray. He placed his hand on hers once more, while she enjoyed his comforting touch before looking back at the stars. After Counting stars finished, Daydream by Gigi Radics played. Gray chuckled and Erza blushed. She knew she had a tendency to daydream, but she didn't think it was so bad...

**/watch?v=XVS-jeT7DQM : To listen to Daydream :p**

"Yes, Erza Scarlet it is pretty bad!" She snapped her head up at the laughing Raven haired boy, surprised he knew what she thought. She poked her tongue out before singing, "Nothing but a Daydream lost in the music, life is a fantasy," and Gray gave her a pointed look that implied _I told you so._She just clicked her tongue and kept looking at the stars while bobbing her head to the music. Suddenly, both their stomachs rumbled, realising that in two days they had little to no food. Ever prepared, Gray took a basket from underneath a dodgy plank of wood and placed it on the mat. She saw that there were tiny sandwiches with drinks and little kebabs plus rice balls and soup.  
"You can cook?" she asked, surprised by the revelation.  
"Well, if I didn't learn to cook, I would probably starve!" he retorted in a joking manner.

Erza took a bite of everything and was pleasantly surprised at how good of a cook he was. She thought that she was an okay cook, but her skills were no match to his culinary prodigy.  
"This is all delicious!" she said with her mouth stuffed. He mumbled a thanks while chuckling, liking the childish side to Erza that didn't care about finishing food in your mouth before talking. As they finished emptying the contents from the basket, Erza suddenly said,  
"Have you ever head of Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote that says that The Sky is the Ultimate Art Gallery Just Above Us?"

Gray nodded, familiar with the quote. Erza smiled, gulped down the last remnants of the food and said, "I think that quote is so pretty and true. The stars are what we are made of. We are all parts of a star and when we die we return as stars. We always love and appreciate art on Earth, but what about the art in space? Why can't we remember that we have such a beautiful Universe and learn to love and live in it?" Erza gasped, out of breath. Gray had nodded while looking seriously at her, seeing a snippet of her personality that he hadn't seen before.

"One quote I really like is by a man called Artie Shaw. I have no clue who he is, but he said Shoot For The Moon - If You Miss You'll End Up In the Stars. I like it because it shows me that I have to go through with my dreams, no matter what. I especially have to go through my dream now or it will be too late. If I try, I can at least be somewhere and be proud of the progress I make before I inevitably..." She didn't finish her sentence, wetness streaking her cheeks. Two powerful arms wrapped around her body and she hugged him back, glad he was with her. She squeezed him as hard as she could, wishing he would never let go. She couldn't bear to be alone. If she was ever going to... go to the stars, she would want him there by her side. He had promised her to be there with her on her Birthday, after all.

"What's your dream?" he whispered, still embracing her.  
She stayed silent for a few moments, contemplating what she should tell him. He started rubbing circles on her back and her resolve crumbled. Of course she would tell him!

"I want to be a singer... I want to sing. I want to make others happy with my voice."

And he would do everything in his power to realise her dream.

**And I'm once again done xD This chapter took so long because of my really bad attention span, but whatever xD. Hope you enjoy this chapter :D Love you amazing, beautiful, wonderful, epic, loving, special, star-like adorable chibis and I'm so glad that you guys read my story :3 It makes me so happy thinking that someone actually reads this and enjoys this or feels happy reading this :D Please keep on being the wonderful people that you are because the world is such a beautiful place with you guys :) xxxxx**

**Roxanne~**


	25. Exposed

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: So as I promised, I would write today and all his week xD. Apparently, my teachers didn't get the memo that I wanted to write 'cause now I'm literally bombarded with homework for the Easter holiday xD. At least I'll do it quickly this Saturday/Sunday and I can get rid of it ;). This is a special chapter because a) 5 is my fav number and what's 5x5=? Of course, 25! :D So yeah, chapter 25 is going to be long- be prepared! Not 10k btw, that's exaggerating it a bit xD Maybe like 5k or something xD. I've continued planning my story, and yeah I'm liking it :D Only a few chapters left of planning and then I'll know what happens in every chapter :p As you know, the first few were unplanned and random, just like me xD And one more IMPORTANT THING! Last chapter, I wrote that Erza wore a blue dress with a gold band, but I promise it had nothing to do with the Tumblr BLUE AND BLACK dress xD Thanks to my sister for pointing that out xD! But yeah, I hope you enjoy and have a wonderful day! :D**

**Chapter XXV: Exposed**

My name is Ul. This is my story, how I came to this world, how I lived in it and the mystery of my death. As you know, I am the mother of Ultear and the adoptive mother of Gray and Lyon, but I see them as my own children. Let's begin my story in a poor shack on a cold mountain. It was snowing heavily, and my mother and father had been trying to go home from a snow blizzard after going to a market. I had been due two weeks ago, but I had chosen the most inconvenient moment to be born. As my parents had barely left the town to go to our small house, my mother's water broke. They both panicked, scared of leaving each other alone in the frigid environment. My father had no choice, as telephones would surely not work in those conditions. He sprinted with all his life to get someone to go to my mother, scared that if he lost her, he would lose the love of his life and his only child. My parents had been in love for many years, and married for even longer. Going through four miscarriages, my parents had been at a high when they heard they could actually have a chance to be parents again. My father reached my mother in time with a whole load of people. My dad and several other people carried my mother horizontally while trying to rush her into the doctor's home. Being from a small town, there was only one qualified doctor, so everyone was capable of finding the doctor easily enough if they had a medical emergency. After my mother had been taken to the doctor, everyone except for my father had been shooed out of her house. The doctor was a nice young lady who mysteriously came into this town after something tragic happened. She tended to my mother while she screamed bloody murder, blood and sweat blurring her vision. I had arrived after seven hours, and my mother held me proudly in her arms with so much affection that all I could think of doing was try and grab a hold of her with my hands.  
I grew up to be more of a daddy's girl as I looked like nothing compared to my stunning mother. Her light Blonde locks always mesmerised me, while I had dark Blue hair like my father. He trained me, teaching me how to fight and how to survive in only my underwear in the winter storms. My mother watched us from inside the house, and whenever I came back she always looked so proud of me, so I embraced the boyish side of me. I would never admit it, but my mother would never let me cut my hair, so it grew really long at a young age on my back. It was naturally straight like my mothers, so I was happy we had at least one thing in common. She thought me how to stitch and use a sewing machine. It was fun, and I loved making little articles of clothing for my mother. Even after the misfortunes my parents had gone through, they had kept their love strong as ever, like when they first met. Usually, kids would grimace when they showed affection, but my parents did it so often that I knew that their love was pure and happy. I always wanted to fall in love like them. Just kissing each other every second they could, not in a sexual way, but just to show the simple meaning, I am Completely and Madly in Love with You. They also said the words "I Love you," every time they could, and I found it so incredibly sweet. And I guess I did find a type of love like that.  
It was spring, and the cherry blossoms were finally starting to bloom. My father had built us a house in the big town to live closer to the civilians, as after I was born he had worked hard to make enough money to support the two ladies in his life. He succeeded with great success and now we were around high middle class. I could finally visit my friends (which were mostly guys) and play with people my age, instead of on a deserted mountain. I missed the mountain shack, but my father said that we could go back any time for fun, so I didn't worry too much about it now that it had been renovated slightly to stand among the heavy blizzards, but nothing on the inside had been changed to keep the memories. Unusually, I walked to the library. I loved books, but I was known more for being an outgoing extrovert, so reading had become a hard thing to do. I went to a familiar bookshelf and started scanning the books, remembering that I was on my final year of high school and I had to rush to go to the revision lesson for my exams. As I saw the perfect book, I tried to reach for it, but I was too short. Being quite tall, it came as a surprise to me why they would make the library so large and tall, making it hard for even tall people to take a book. Something brushed my back and long arms reached for the library book I was trying to take. He took it with such ease and gentleness that I was completely mesmerised by his movements. His eyes locked on mine in a warm expression. My heart leaped in my chest, something that had previously never occurred to me. Silently, he placed the book in my hand and walked away. His Raven hair with a small White streak caught my eye and I didn't take a breath until his majestic presence was gone. Losing oxygen, I held the bookshelf to steady myself. Who could that guy be? The town was pretty small, so everyone knew everyone. I looked at my wrist watch and saw that I would be late if I didn't run the whole way. I used my reserves of stamina to rush to school and luckily I made it on time. I sat near my window seat and looked at the blooming cherry blossom tree, trying to keep a mental picture in my head so I could sculpt it later. Just as I was about to finish analysing every single detail, a tall figure walked in effortlessly and bowed down to show respect. Without thinking, I stood up, my long hair blowing in the wind as the window was open and a strong gust of wind had reached the warm classroom. My eyes were wide and round, while he was in mid bow staring at me with that half smile of his that enchanted me to him. My friends giggled at me and I made a joke about seeing a ghost after watching some anime, and everyone laughed in appreciation. He just kept staring at me with his eyebrows raised, probably seeing my deep red blush, but I chose not to meet his gaze. I sat down, embarrassed, and the teacher introduced him as Hiroshi Aki – his name meant 'Generous Bright'. It suited the persona I thought he was, as he had helped me just a couple of minutes before and his blue eyes just shot something straight at me, maybe it was because of the way they shined so brightly. Definitely a fitting name. Apparently, I was the only person who had a free seat next to my table, so I could hear my heart pounding very loudly, I almost thought everyone could hear it. I looked at my hands under the table to stop myself from having some sort of cardiac arrest - my heart was already experiencing abnormal conditions. I felt him sit down at the desk next to me, but I still didn't move, aware my face was colouring again. I heard shifting and I snapped my head around to see that he had moved his desk right next to mine and was looking at my book, our arms practically pressed together. My mouth was probably open wide in an O shape as he giggled while biting his tongue, which was the most adorable thing I had ever seen. "Sorry, I don't have any of my books today as I'm new and all. Nice to meet you, my name is Hiroshi Aki, but let's not be informal and just call me Aki," he said with a warm smile on his face. He held out his hands and I stared at it dumbly for a few seconds, wondering if this was all just a figment of my imagination. I knew that I was making a fool of myself, so as he was about to slowly pull his hand away, I grabbed it forcefully and shook it, unaware just how much power I was putting, "MY NAME IS UL!" I practically screamed. Everyone turned to look at me, and I hid my face in my hair. One thing my hair wasn't so useless at, even though I had never needed it for this purpose before. He chuckled, and let me tell you it was the hottest thing I had heard in my life. His voice was deep but sweet, and it reminded me of dark chocolate. I immediately let go of his hand, but he kept his firmly on mine. It was my turn to raise my eyebrows at him, and then he screamed, "NICE TO MEET YOU UL, I HOPE WE CAN BE GREAT FRIENDS!" I started laughing uncontrollably then at how he had been willing to embarrass himself for me. I wiped the tears from my eyes and stared at his blue irises that reminded me nothing of the blue sky, but of a turbulent sea. He was such a paradox, even if I had only met him for a few minutes, I felt like the closest person to him. We sat in the same position all day, his arm brushing mine as we read from the same notebook and he asked me questions. More frequent than not, he would say something funny or amusing, and sometimes he would say something dark and deep and it just kept on switching from a fun atmosphere to a more sombre one with thoughts just rushing through our heads. After we had to go home, I felt a certain emptiness that I had never felt before, but I just shrugged it off as nothing important. The emptiness had kept on gnarling at me even during dinner, so when my mother barged in my room unexpectedly, I almost jumped out of my bed. "Mum!?" I complained, wanting to be alone to think for the first time in my life. My mother seemed surprised before she sat down next to me and asked me what was wrong. Over the years, my looks had become much more feminine, so then I actually looked like a version of my mother with blue hair and a side fringe. She sat down comfortably on my bed, gave me a hug and waited for me to talk. I told her about the emptiness I felt, and I told her about Aki, not wanting to keep secrets from my mother. She looked ecstatic after I had mentioned Aki, but she had only said that I should just live with it and figure it out myself, and then left skipping! "Thanks Mother!" I shouted sarcastically at her, hoping she would hear me thank her for her oh so gracious advice that she had not even bothered to specify. The next day, I had exams, so I needed to hurry up and study. The emptiness would have to wait.  
The semester went well, some tests were easier than others but overall, I was pretty proud of what I had achieved. Aki had been new, so he had been allowed to have a week to study. He had asked if he could come to my house, and I had agreed. My heart would still malfunction anywhere near him, but I tried to ignore it. We studied hard together, him actually being a great tutor and really smart. My parents had kept on barging in and kissing each other or showing affection, and in those moments I realised why other teens my age didn't like it when their parents showed affection - it had been so embarrassing! Aki had blushed slightly, which I had found adorable. We continued going on like that for the week until Aki had to do his exams. Next was prom, but I really never thought I would go, until Aki asked me. I was so surprised that he would ask me when he was handsome and he could get any pretty girl, not me. Shamelessly, I agreed without a second thought, forgetting all about the exams. What would I wear? I begged my Mother and she complied right away, somehow matching my excitement. I wore my hair in a messy bun and had a blue dress with stars scattered in a swirl all over my body. It was truly beautiful, but I only wanted one person to tell me how it looked. Aki never looked surprised or shocked by anything, so when he turned up to my doorstep and looked at me up and down, his mouth was wide open and his eyes were glazed. I instantly blushed and he whispered something that I didn't quite catch. I took his arm and asked him to repeat what he said, but he didn't. Once we were in his car, he drove us for a few minutes, uncharacteristically shy. When the car stopped, he suddenly leaned next to me and put his lips near my ear and whispered, "You're beautiful," and I almost had a heart attack. He got out of the car but I was immobile, still in shock from the words he had spoken to me. He smiled sheepishly at me and took me inside. While everyone followed the music, we chose to slow dance all the time, just the two of us on the dance floor in pure bliss. Once we grew tired of the stuffy indoors, we ran outside, my heel snapping, and laughed while dancing and tickling each other. There were lights everywhere and it was probably the most romantic setting I had ever been in. That night, me and Aki kissed...

I had finally reached Uni! I hadn't seen Aki in a few weeks, but I didn't want to worry too much about him. After all, in all my subjects I had gotten either an A or an A*. My parents had cried at how well I had done and I had cried with them. After lots of hugs and kisses, they helped me pack my bags for University. From now on, I would be living in a dorm. This town was a couple of miles away from my town, but I could cycle there if I desperately needed my parents. For some reason, the school permitted a guy and girl to be in a dorm together. I thought it was a terrible idea, but no one would listen to me, so I was assigned with some boy. I stepped in front of my dorm room, excitement coursing through me. What I didn't expect to see was my roommate: and even better, I did not expect Aki to be there! "AKI!" I screamed before thinking. "UL!" He shouted back, mid-packing with a huge grin on his face. My heart literally stopped... I jumped onto him to give him a bear hug, but he had clearly not been expecting it as we toppled onto his bed. Now on top of him with his arms around my waist, I stared at the man who had been making my whole being feel like it was torn. I felt whole again in that moment, relishing him with me. After looking in his eyes for a few minutes, I realised that we were in a very compromising position, so I tried to get off him, but he kept a hold on my waist. He suddenly switched our positions, now him on top of me, before kissing me on the lips, this one a bit more passionate than my first kiss. It was filled with lust and want, something that we both longed after being away from each other.  
We continued University like this, occasionally kissing, hugging and doing things that couples do. However, I was too scared to define what we were during two years of our Uni life. I had started to worry about it over and over again one day, staying at a distance from him. I went to sleep early, too tired to do anything. I woke up with the sound of a crash. I woke up, heart pounding, thinking that something was wrong. I put on a robe with my bunny slippers and rushed to the window. There below me (two stories), Aki had a ice blue and white guitar and he played it to me. I never knew he sang until that moment, and it was the most heart-wrenching experience I had ever been put through. I cried that night and he had told me to jump down. I jumped without any hesitation, knowing he would catch me. He embraced me and whispered in my ear, "Will you be my girlfriend Ul?" I nodded, too speechless, and we danced like when we first kissed...  
Aki's gone! He left with all his belongings, nothing to tell me where he is! We had been living together for a couple of years after University and I was so sure he had wanted to propose to me, yet he ran away! I had cried, too heartbroken. Even though I knew my mother would not approve, I did the only thing I could think of - I cut my hair short. Aki was my soul mate and whenever I was with him, my heart would do strange things while the emptiness disappeared. I couldn't live without him, so I got the next best thing - I chose to accept his brother's proposal a couple of days after. Aki hated his brother Haru, a name very unfitting for him. His brother was a very sour man that only cared about money and was a greedy pig, but I was heartbroken, all I wanted to feel was safe. Everything I did with him felt wrong, unholy, but I knew that I could never get out of the marriage.

That despicable man raped me! I told him no, but he refused. And now, I have his child. How can I keep this child if it's that of the very Devil? I wanted to protect my child from the evil man as much as possible...  
Ultear..That's what I called my beautiful daughter. She was an angel, and I hoped to anyone out there that she would not follow in her father's footsteps...

He tried to hit me again, but I was holding Ultear so he didn't harm me...

I have new bruises, but I cannot show anyone...

They all see us as such a perfect couple, but they really know nothing...

I adopted Lyon today. He reminds me of Aki with his White hair. Aki had a White streak in his hair that I fell in love with. I fell in love with everything about him...

Gray, my new child. He reminds me so much of Aki! Except for his eyes, he has the same smile, eyes and even Raven hair of Aki! Maybe, just maybe... No! I can't! I cannot try to find Aki again...

I can't believe it...

I finally divorced that callous man. I've had enough of his abuse...

I was walking down a familiar street when a car pulled up next to me and a pair of hands reach out to grab for me. There is no escape as they gag me and blindfold me. He had found me. Haru has found me, and he will kill me. That was blatantly obvious. We drive in silence as I cannot use my senses to guess where we are heading to. They prod me as I walk, my back straight to show that I will not cower away from them. I am seated and I hear his familiar voice. The blindfold is taken off and I look at the man who took my life away in the worst possible way. He demands that I sign a contract. I read it. NO! I cannot sign it! His signature is already there, but Gray will suffer! I shake my head violently, wanting to protect my son. "Aki," says the despicable monster. I look at him in the eyes, scared of what he is about to say. "Do you know why he left? Where he is? I'll tell you if you sign it." Selfishly, I sign it with no hesitation, wanting to know what happened to my beloved Aki. As soon as I finish, he slaps me - hard. I faint.  
I wake up in my room. The next time we meet, I know that he will kill me...I cry, not for myself, but for how I cursed my son to a contract that he cannot escape out of. What type of mother am I? I questioned myself as I cried. Gray and Lyon came to comfort me, but I just cried even more.

**He's going to kill me!**

* * *

**Fairy Tail - Recording Studio 1 PM**

Gray asked Erza to go to school because he had a brilliant plan. He had said to meet at the recording studio and after a few minutes, she had finally found it. Erza sighed behind the door and took a deep breath before knocking, still embarrassed about what she had confessed. It had been a really bad idea in her opinion as she knew that being a singer was such a generic dream. Everyone always wanted to be something famous that seemed to give a lot of money, but Erza had only wanted to sing because of how she felt when singing and how it made others happy. "C'mon in!" said a familiar voice.

Erza opened the door to find Gray in a light blue t-shirt with a guitar and entwined circles around it, and for once in his life some skinny jeans that were not sagging down. Erza looked sceptically at his choice of clothing, used to him wearing only white shirts and baggy jeans. Gray noticed Erza checking his appearance so thoroughly that he started laughing out loud, which caused an already embarrassed Scarlet haired girl to pout. He motioned for her to come closer, and she did, not expecting he would do anything that bad.

Oh how wrong she was!

Gray trapped Erza with his body and one hand over the numerous controls in the recording room. He then began going closer to Erza's face and her backing more and more into the controls until there is practically only a few inches between them. Then, Gray started caressing up and down Erza's arm, which made her visibly shiver. There was no escape.  
"What do you want!?" whined Erza, cursing herself as she enjoyed his cold touch on her warm skin. Mischievously, he put his lips next to her ear and whispered seductively, "Sing."  
Erza used her hands to gently push Gray away before saying, "What?"

"I said sing Scarlet!" chuckled Gray. Erza blushed at the sudden nickname he had given her. He either called her Titania or Erza, but never Scarlet. She blushed and tried to face away from his face while mumbling, "No..."  
Gray, being ever persistent, then suddenly kissed her on the cheek. Erza stared at him with utter shock, confused, happy, pissed and so startled. His eyes had the subliminal message that said, "I will do more if you don't comply." This made Erza shiver, because she knew that his lips would touch her somewhere else, but she didn't want to risk it before he could do anything to her. She randomly started singing, not realising that her song choice was actually a love song:

Putting my defences up,  
'Cause I don't wanna fall in love,  
If I ever did that, I think I'd have a heart attack...

Never put my love out on the line,  
Never said yes to the right guy,  
Never had trouble getting what I want,  
But when it comes to you, I'm never good enough,  
When I don't care, I can play 'em like a Ken doll,  
Won't wash my hair, then make 'em bounce like a basketball,

But you make me want to act like a girl,  
Paint my nails and wear high heels, yes you,  
Make me so nervous, that I just can't hold your hand!

You make me glow...  
But I cover up, won't let it show..  
So I'm putting my defences up!  
'Cause I don't wanna fall in love!  
If I ever did that, I think I'd have a heart attack!  
I think I'd have a heart attack...  
I think I'd have a heart attack!

Never break a sweat for the other guys,  
When you come around I get paralysed,  
And every time I try to be myself,  
It comes out wrong like a cry for help,  
It's just not fair,  
Pain's more trouble than love is worth,  
I gasp for air!  
It feels good, but you know it hurts!

But you make me wanna act like a girl,  
Paint my nails and wear perfume, boy you,  
Make me so nervous, that I just can't hold your hand!

You make me glow...  
But I cover up, won't let it show...  
So I'm putting my defences up!  
'Cause I don't wanna fall in love!  
If I ever did that, I think I'd have a heart attack!  
I think I'd have a heart attack...  
I think I'd have a heart attack!

The feelings got lost in my lungs,  
They're burning, I'd rather be numb,  
And there's no one else to blame...  
So scared I take off and I run,  
I'm flying too close to the sun,  
And I burst into flames...!

You make me glow...  
But I cover up won't let it show...  
So I'm putting my defences up!  
'Cause I don't wanna fall in love!  
If I ever did that, I think I'd have a heart attack!  
I think I'd have a heart attack!  
I think I'd have a heart attack..."

She ended beautifully, breathless from how much effort she had put into her performance. Where Gray was concerned, Erza would unconsciously always try to sing even better than she usually did so she could impress him. She looked up at the Raven haired teen, mystified why he suddenly wanted her to sing. Erza was greeted with a sly smirk and the words she had never thought that she would hear him say were,  
"And that was Erza Scarlet performing Heart Attack!"

The recording button had been on all this time.

Everyone in the whole school, during lessons, had heard Erza sing...

_Oh shoot..._

**And done yet again :D This took ages because I was just jamming out with nightcore and music on youtube, so I kept on getting distracted and starting to sing and then write and vice versa xD. Thank you so much for reading my beautiful adorable little chibis and I hope some new answers and mysteries were installed in your brain ;p Keep on writing to me, I really just live for your lovely comments as I'm forever alone xD. I'm going to kindly ask (*cough**cough* blackmail *cough*cough*) my sister into checking for mistakes. Ciao! xxxxx \\(*^-^*)/**

**Roxanne~**


	26. Playboy

Scarlet

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Heyo guys! :D Yes, I'm updating this chapter at 23:05, but let's just say that I was too invested in my music xD. I have this tablet my parents got me a bit after Christmas and a bit before my Birthday, so I don't really know if it's a Christmas or a Birthday present xD Anyway, I was just playing Crossy Road with the emo goose when inspiration came to me to download as many songs as I could so I could listen with by brand new headphones (which were given to be a while after my Birthday, but I don't know if I should call it a Birthday present xD). I don't really ask for anything because I don't expect stuff, so when my parents gave me these things I was so shocked and happy :o Anywho, I spent at least 3 hours just downloading music xD. But! I was also writing the chapter summaries, so you know, I was doing it for you guys :p Stay adorable and wonderful and I hope you guys have great days ;) Btw, I usually reply to reviews on your private account(if you have one) just because I don't want to spam you guys with my writing, as I usually like writing a lot xD This was long O-O... Enjoy :D**

**To Grayza forever(may I compliment your excellent choice of name ;) ) : Thank you so much! :D Ul is actually very important to the story line, and her life also has major importance to the story ;) I can't write too much but yeah, it was something that HAD to be written :p I will keep it up and thank you so much for reading :D!**

**Chapter XXVI: Playboy**

_Gray had been through a phase of crying randomly over and over again. It had been three years since Ul died, and Gray was coping really badly. His brother Lyon tried to help him, but it just made Gray feel worthless. Lyon cooked, cleaned and even worked as a paperboy all week so they could afford food, while Gray was acting like a waste of space just crying and thinking and moaning in an endless cycle. School had been unforgiving as ever, but there was nothing that could rouse him to man up a bit._

_Gray woke up with the sound of an alarm ringing in his ears. Great, school again. And it was a Monday... Slowly, he got up from his bed, half naked, and jumped off it. He started putting on a new pair of boxers and a white school shirt that Lyon had washed by hand when he saw his guitar. He hadn't touched it since she had gone and now he glared at it, disgusted at how it remained unchanged while he was changing every single day from a happy boy to a broken one. Gray was about to kick it when suddenly his heart skipped a beat. For some abnormal reason, he thought that he felt Ul's presence - but that was impossible, right? Gray stared at the ceiling, knowing full well that he wouldn't see anything. He sighed, tired of his stupid speculation and began changing again. As he was about to open his bedroom door to exit, he stared at the guitar one more time. Gray had been wrong about one thing. It may have looked exactly the same, but he hadn't used it in three years, so it would probably be hard to tune back to its original sound. And since a very long time, that was the first smile he had actually made. Small, but genuine and child like, not like the brooding adult he had been becoming. The guitar was a bit like his brother Lyon, broken on the inside but still trying to keep appearances, unlike him._

_The door suddenly flung back and Gray flew and dropped on the carpet in a daze, while his older brother stood in front of him with a huge grin on his face. "Wake up Gray!" screamed Lyon with joy, surprised to see his brother actually awake. Gray had plugged his ears with his hands while closing one eye, recoiling at the loudness.__  
__"If you haven't noticed, I'm awake," he said in a cold, monotonous tone. Lyon smiled a huge, toothy grin, glad that his brother was finally making progress. Even Lyon missed Ul terribly, but as an older brother he had a duty to uphold and he would only cry if the emotions were too hard to keep away. He would never show weakness in front of Gray, because he wanted Gray to see him as someone who could help him in any situation and support him, not just his older brother who always competed with him._

_Gray stood up and grabbed his bag before going downstairs. They ate their breakfast in silence, eating the pancakes Lyon had previously made. There was no need to speak, as they both knew that Gray would probably only either shake his head, nod or mumble. After breakfast, they took their bicycles and started cycling to school. Even though Lyon wasn't sure just how much better Gray was, he wasn't crying yet, so that meant that he could maybe still show his competitive side.__  
__"Gray, I'll race you to school!" Lyon shouted excitedly while looking back at Gray before speeding off. Gray muttered something under his breath, commenting on his brother cheating, before pedalling as fast as he could to catch up and possibly defeat his brother. Lyon didn't know this, but Gray knew a secret shortcut that could lead him quicker to the school. Gray sped around the corner and started pedalling as fast as he could, making sure to avoid accidentally running people over. He reached the school gates uneventfully early, and Lyon was nowhere in sight. Gray allowed himself a small smile, glad that he could still do these silly competitions with Lyon so naturally. As he was getting off the bicycle, Gray spotted a little girl who had fallen over and was bleeding. Worried, Gray started approaching her. A tall woman reached the girl before him and as she wailed, the mother cooed at her and made silly faces to make the girl smile. Of course, every other person seemed to have a loving parent that would be there for them always. Gray would never have anything like that anymore..._

_Gray snapped in that moment, tired of living like some useless piece of junk. If he was a useless piece of nothing, at least he could try and enhance some of his talents. He could care less now about all those lucky children who didn't know what losing two sets of parents felt like. Gray was tired of trying to ignore the fact that Ul would never come back because she wouldn't, so she couldn't judge his actions now. Gray then decided that his best features were probably his looks. Girls had always tried to confess to him or something of the sort, but he had usually ignored it because he thought that they were too young and too fickle. Maybe he could use that to his advantage? Gray spotted a girl in his year who had left him a love letter in his locker, and he had politely refused. Now however, the offer was much more tempting. Without any second thoughts, Gray walked up to the girl and kissed her, full on the lips, but nothing more. After he was done, the girl had looked so shocked that it had almost made him want to laugh out loud. He wiped his mouth, trying to get rid of that chap stick sort of feel before kissing girl after girl after girl. It didn't matter who it was, he just needed to get his frustration out. Apparently, his new undiscovered talent of being an amazing kisser aided his conquest. By the end of the bell, he had kissed all the girls in his year. Satisfied, he went back to the gate to see that Lyon was looking at his watch. He already knew that he had lost, thanks to Gray's bicycle being there, but he didn't know what the hell he had been doing or where he had gone._

_"Gray, why do you look so flushed? Did you run or something, your hair is all messy and your face is a light red?!" questioned Lyon, confused as to why his brother looked in that state, when just a few minutes ago he had been dressed correctly. Gray licked his lips before giving Lyon a crooked smile and slinging his arm around Lyon's shoulder.__  
__"You'll find out soon," he said while laughing. Lyon stared at his younger brother, who was acting very strangely. After being overcome with grief, had he suddenly relapsed and become insane? Lyon would soon find out._

_Rumours in school spread fast, and everyone knew about Gray's antics that morning, which had continued in between classes and at break time. By the end of the day, Gray had kissed almost every girl in the school. He didn't need to go through the process of making them fall for him, he just kissed them forcefully and in that instant, they would fall for him. It was kind of laughable to Gray at how easily after that, they would literally do anything for him._

_From that day on, Gray became the playboy that was infamous, gaining a large fan base who were either victims or wanted to be victims **(This sentence sounds so weird xD It sounds like I'm saying: They were either raped by him or they want to be O-O... Yeah no I'll shut up now, I'm creeping myself out...)**_

* * *

**Present time- A day after the events of the last chapter 5.55 PM**

Roxy **(My alias! :D Haza! I'm in my own story :p) **sat at the table for two in the restaurant, looking at her wrist watch. From the rumours, she knew he would probably be late. Roxy was the girl who had hugged Gray at the last second, and they had decided that today was the best date to get it over with as she knew that he didn't particularly care about anyone other than himself, but she saw him help his friends several times from a hardship on the sidelines. She wanted to know if he was really the jerk everyone knew him to be or if he was actually a really kind hearted, misunderstood guy.

Surprisingly, Gray had actually come on time. He was looking as casual as ever with a sort of regal presence about him, even though he probably looked like some sort of thug if you just looked at the clothes. He waved at Roxy with a big smile, and she waved back, glad that he hadn't stood her up. He took his seat and sat up straight. Roxy giggled and said,  
"You don't have to be so serious, don't worry! I won't judge," she said while giving him a conspiratorial grin. He laughed hard, and Roxy smiled, pleased that she could make the apparently ice-hearted boy actually even smile. They talked for a bit, but he kept on getting distracted by his phone. Roxy didn't mind at all, as she was more curious about who the person was. From the way Gray was holding his phone like it was the most precious thing and how fondly he looked at his phone while cracking a smile or a laugh here and there, Roxy concluded it must be someone very important.

Every time he finished texting back with lightning speed, he kept on saying sorry, but Roxy just shook her head and said it was fine. She didn't have much of a social life, so seeing others have such close relationships always made her have hope that one day she could have something like that. The starter they ordered came, pasta, and they ate it while giggling and pointing out when they accidentally got the sauce somewhere on their faces. As the main course was being served, a call came from Gray's phone. He excused himself and took the call while going to a far corner. Wanting nothing more to eavesdrop, Roxy tried to get closer by holding various objects to her face or hiding behind customers, but that just led to a series of embarrassing events which will not be discussed because of the immense second hand embarrassment you will feel. One thing that I will mention however is that flower plant water is never supposed to be accidentally poured on the crotch of an expensive looking suit of a sour looking businessman. She rushed back to her seat, aware that Gray was about to end the phone call.

One thing that was clear from seeing his face during that conversation was that he cared very deeply for whoever was on the other side of the phone. As Gray took his seat, the atmosphere changed. He placed his hand on hers while drawing rings around them and saying sweet things with a fake smile. Most of what he said was filtered right through Roxy's brain as she was shivering from how creepy he was being. She pulled her hand quickly away, hoping he would get the message. But no! Apparently he was really dumb!

He moved his seat so that he was right next to her and put their arms really close together while ordering dessert. She even heard the words, "Babe," a couple of times, which made her inwardly shiver. She stood up suddenly, banged the table and screamed, "Stop! You are being so creepy Gray!" Everyone in the busy restaurant stared at the girl who might have been announcing a paedophilic man, but all they saw were two young people, so they quickly dismissed it with raised eyebrows. She sat down, calming herself after the outburst to speak more calmly.

"Gray, I think you're a great guy and all but no offence, what the hell is up with you? The day began fine and you were strictly friendly, which I preferred much more, believe you me, and then you suddenly start calling me weird names and acting so strange." She shivered to show just how uncomfortable she was.  
"I'm sorry," was all he said, but he didn't look sorry at all and if she wasn't a paranoid person, she would think that he was actually moving even closer to her. Cautiously, Roxy took precautions to sit opposite him, where he had previously been, and stared at him. It was clear that he loved someone that wasn't her, and she knew it was probably the person on the other end of the phone before. She could either think of it as two ways: he was having a bet with that person to see if she fell madly in love with him or he was scared of admitting his feelings for the other person, so he projected it by doing it the only way he knew how to - by acting like a right jerk!

Slowly, so he would clearly understand, she said, "I will ask you some questions. You have to answer them, but do not touch me, do not call me a pet name and do not avoid the question, got it?"  
"Anything for you babe," Gray said with a coy smile. Roxy glared at him, showing with her expression and the way she visibly shivered that he had to stop _that _or she would walk out and never want to meet him ever again. Gray slumped back in his seat, accepting defeat.

As he was taking a sip of water, Roxy said, "First question, are you in love?"  
Gray spluttered the water in his mouth everywhere. Luckily, Roxy had expected it and had used her plate as protection (as she had previously finished the contents).  
"So I'm guessing that's a yes? Next question,.."  
"Whoa, whoa whoa!" Gray interrupted, incredulous that a girl he barely knew could insinuate something like that.  
"Oh shut up Gray, it's so obvious! Now, please don't interrupt me or I will eviscerate you. Why are you acting like a right douche if you love this girl so much? Acting like you used to won't help! I don't care when you realised you loved her, but being like this is not the answer! How is she supposed to even think that you love her, if you keep on acting like some sort of play boy, huh? Look at me!"

Gray was staring at his hands, too scared to look into her eyes and see the blazing that would show how enraged she was, because he knew that she would also see his eyes, and they would probably be the only proof she needed to make conclusions.  
"I..I don't love anyone. Can't someone act friendly?" whispered Gray in a tiny voice, stuttering only a bit. Roxy shook her head as he continued mumbling now incoherent words. She couldn't be bothered to listen to his stupid excuses. She stood up once again and gave him a hard slap.

He held his cheek, completely stunned.  
"DO NOT EVEN DARE TELL ME THAT NONSENSE! GROW A PAIR AND STOP ACTING LIKE A MAN WHORE! JUST SAY YOU AREN'T INTERESTED IN ME AND STOP WASTING YOUR TIME AND GO TO THE PERSON YOU LOVE!" Roxy screamed with all the anger and forcefulness she could muster.

A huge clap emanated from the restaurant and whistles and short comments were made. Her truly motivational speech had moved everyone in that room, including the main and only person she had been trying to knock some sense into. They stared at each other's eyes, finally seeing eye to eye (quite literally, I might add) and they nodded at each other before he rushed off to go to the person he cared for. Roxy smiled before slumping down on her seat, exhausted.

She remembered that now she was all alone, so she ate her dessert in silence before walking home, glad that she could play matchmaker. Who knows? Maybe she would be needed again one day. For now, she would rest and live like a hermit in her house, being the ever introvert.

Gray ran. Now he realised something. He wouldn't admit it just yet, but he would keep it as his dirty little secret. He had probably always known it, but never had the courage to admit it. What he needed to do right now was to make sure that the Scarlet maiden in question could make her wish come true at all costs as soon as possible.  
And he knew for certain that he would never give up for her.

Only for _her_.

**Oki I'm done xD I had fun writing this chapter, music blasting in my ear and just the random plot xD Don't worry, next chapter you will know what they actually text each other :p And should my alias make another appearance ;) (probably not xD) Be happy my cute, adorable, amazing, brilliant, shining, funny and incredibly kind adorable chibis and I really hope you liked this chapter ;) \\(*^-^*)/ Hugs!**

**Roxanne~**


	27. Dreams

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: HEYA! Yes, I know, I didn't write yesterday xD I actually have a legitimate reason :p I was doing something, then I went upstairs to plan my story and ask my sister for her opinion, but she was ignoring me, so I rested a bit and I wanted to wake up after a few minutes, but I actually woke up at 3am xD! Believe me, I was as surprised as you x3. So today I'm writing two, just because I want to keep to the schedule( that I don't have xD). I hope you all had an amazing day and you get enough sleep and rest, being tired is something I feel 24/7, and I don't advise sleeping late xD! Lego! I'm sorry if it's updated a lil late, I was procrastinating x3!**

**Chapter XXVII: Dreams **

**Previous chapter's conversations...**

_Titania: Are you there?_

_Titania: Helllooooooooo? -.-_

_Titania: SMH hurry up for goodness sake Gray!_

_Iceboy: Whoa, whoa, whoa hold up a sec. Since when did u know how 2 use smh?_

_Titania: Lucy taught me :)_

_Iceboy: You're jking right? Are you shitting on my leg right now?_

_Titania: I think it's affirmative that I would never do something so indecent O-o..._

_Iceboy: It's a figure of speech! And what the hell happened to you? Are you a demon that ate Erza's soul? O-O_

_Titania: Oh yes, I actually am. I'm also allergic to holy water and exorcisms..._

_Iceboy: I knew it! :D_

_Titania: You know I'm kidding right? Or are you taking this seriously because if not, I can take you to social services and have them talk to you about your "feelings" (which I know for a fact you don't have ;) )_

_Iceboy: -.-... You realise I know this is a joke, right? Brb, on the date thing for school._

_Titania: Act like a gentleman, or I will put pepper in your food!_

_\\(*^-^*)/_

_Titania: So... I read that hippopotamus milk is pink :)_

_Iceboy: You what? Where? How? and most importantly, y?_

_Titania: It's my dirty little secret ;)_

_Iceboy: Oh, so now u have 1 more secret. Gg, that's gr8 Scarlet._

_..._

_Iceboy: Heloo?_

_Titania: Why do you call me Scarlet?_

_Iceboy: And I thought you were smart -.-..._

_Titania: But you just suddenly started calling me that after all those months! Why now?_

_Iceboy: Cause I'm a bundle of surprises like that, Scarlet ;)_

_\\(*^-^*)/_

_Iceboy: So seriously, how do you know that hippo milk is pink?_

_Titania: Internet and books, duh?_

_Iceboy: Oh._

_Titania: And you thought you were a clever human being ;p_

_Iceboy: But I'm really not! :D_

_Titania:.. What?_

_Iceboy: I'm actually an alien, and we are very good at things that involve messing around with people with a shade of red hair!_

_Titania: Are you taking the mick out of me? x(_

_Iceboy: Aww nah babe!_

_Titania: STOP! STOP RIGHT NOW WITH THIS TORTURE! ANYTHING BUT THAT!_

_Iceboy: Geesh! All the women I've known loved it when I called them babe! xD_

_Titania: STOP, PLEASE! And for your information, I thought it was already clear that I'm not every girl ;)_

_Iceboy: Sure babe ;)_

_Titania: Gray!_

_\\(*^-^*)/_

_Titania: I want an apology_

_Iceboy: What the hell for?_

_Titania: For sexually assaulting me multiple times, including yesterday..._

_Iceboy: Oh come on! I thought you liked it!_

_Titania: R U Crazy, R U Crazy, R U Crazy, R U Crazy, must be stupid..._

_Iceboy: Please don't start quoting songs at me, you're the one who could've told me to stop or pushed me away, but you didn't ;)_

_Titania: Oh please Gray, you aren't that attractive. I didn't want to touch you, or you could have trapped my hands and done something obscene..._

_Iceboy: So you think I'm attractive! ;)_

_Titania: I never said that! O-O_

_Iceboy: Correction, wrote that*_

_Titania: Oh you know what I mean, stop being a jerk! :(_

_Iceboy: Didn't I tell you I was actually a sadist? Or did you just forget, Scarlet?_

_Titania: Just stop Raven xD_

_\\(*^-^*)/_

_Gray picked up his phone, noticing straight away that it had been vibrating for a second. He excused himself before going to a far away corner of the room, away from the people who would probably be very loud.__  
__"Hi," said the voice on the other side of the phone.__  
__"So now you're calling me nicknames, are we?" Gray said condescendingly.__  
__"You started it!" pouted Erza from the other end of the line. Gray chuckled, always amused by the Scarlet girl's antics.__  
__"Fine Scarlet, what did you want to call me about?" asked Gray in a much sweeter voice.__  
__"If you must know, Raven, there is going to be this new guy that's apparently really influential and powerful, and the headmaster wants me to try and seduce him or something of the sort, but as you know, I have no experience in that subject. Since you are the ever expert at all things, mind giving me a hand? I really don't know what to do, the guy is apparently a real flirt," said Erza in a pensive voice._

_Gray felt his expression morphing from a light smile into a grimace, a frown, and then a scowl.__  
__"I'm sorry, but I really don't have any advice to give you," he said before hanging up. What turned up to be a pleasant conversation became something that involved another guy that wasn't him. He didn't really know why he was so pissed, but he had a vague idea, which he scrapped right away. Him, the playboy, having feelings? Impossible. He returned back to Roxanne. Maybe he could spice things up and conquer another girl..._

* * *

**Fairy Tail - Next day, 10 am**

Erza walked through the crowds, her usual aura not emanating from her today. More than anything, she was very confused. Today, everyone had been staring at her, **(not unusual ;p) **but instead of looking at her with fear, they looked at her with.. admiration? Awe? She shook her head slowly while walking, remembering that even more confusing conversation with Gray. He had suddenly hung up after they had talked for only a few seconds... Was it something she had said? Did he not like the nickname she had given him? As he always talked about her hair colour (or surname), she always assumed that she could use his hair colour as a nickname, as it could be matching or something._ Matching? Really?_ She questioned herself, tired of the amount of thinking she had done the night before and today. Could this day get even more confusing? Apparently so.

As she made her way outside to sit on the grass for lunch, she opened the large double doors of the school entrance to find paparazzi. They had looked bored and tired when she had first glanced at them, before they started clicking at the cameras for a picture of her. Not knowing what was going on, Erza covered her eyes while blocking the flash and slammed the doors shut. _What is wrong with people today? _She started walking in the opposite direction of the door, a little dazed by the camera lights, when she heard someone call her name. Instantly, she turned around to find a small group of girls looking shyly at her. That was weird. Even though she was usually intimidating, no one ever had trouble talking to her, as they all saw her as a sort of stern mother that implemented the rules.

"Yes?" she said, her voice a bit squeaky from the confusion of the day.  
"May we please have your autograph!?" they all shouted while bowing down in a respectful manner. What was up with today? Why would they possibly want her autograph? Erza didn't even have one, so she just decided to write her full name in cursive and putting a line through it, before drawing something that looked like a sword through her name. _Yes, that will do. _She thought proudly to herself, glad that she had actually made something that actually reflected her personality. The girls all squealed before running away. During this exchange, everyone had still been staring at her. Once she had commenced walking again, she was encircled by the students, and they all asked for autographs. Erza was highly confused, not knowing what to do. What the hell had she done this time?

Before having to enter into that predicament, she was saved by the headmaster Makarov asking her to go to the Interview room. Erza speed walked away from the students that had been crowding around her, secretly scared that they had been plotting to kill her there and then and make it look like an accident. She knew the whole plan of the renovated school by heart, so finding it would be very easy. The Interview room was solely there to interview or be interviewed by important people, like high society rich kids. Maybe the new kid was here? That seemed unlikely, as he had only applied a day ago, and needed to prepare all his things for school.

Erza felt her mind wandering back to Gray again and how the mood had gone from friendly to sour. She didn't think that she could bear another person abandoning her after all she had been through. Gray had unintentionally become a big part of her life, and she knew **very deep **in her heart that he was now necessary to her. She felt so much happier when he was beside her, and she didn't know why, but she wanted to know everything about him, know how to comfort him in sadness, make him smile, make him laugh, wipe the tears from his face and... She stopped and sighed as she reached the door. She was really becoming obsessed about everything to do with the Raven haired boy.

Erza entered, her confusion reaching maximum levels as she saw two men and a woman in suits and most surprising of all, Gray, wearing casual clothes while smiling widely at her. Ignoring the other three people in the room, Erza rushed to Gray without thinking and gave him a hug, glad that he didn't hate her. As she buried her head in his cold chest, the woman coughed to signal for Erza to sit. Erza lingered for a few more seconds, having the urge to want to apologise for whatever had made Gray angry yesterday.

She took her seat, not showing any signs of nervousness. After all, Erza lived for public speaking. She let her eyes wonder at the classic looking room with big windows framed by wood, a fire place to her left, a large bookshelf to her right, and comfy middle aged chairs surrounding a large and long wood table. One of the men with a striped suit held a business card and swiped the card to Erza on the long oak table, and she caught it. She read - Magnolia Star Agency. She lifted her eyebrows. She definitely knew who they were now. They were a record company!

"Erza, as you may know, we heard your singing yesterday. You may have thought that it was just in the school's P.A., but it actually played all through Magnolia. We were very impressed, and we wish to scout you. As you know, we are one of the most influential agencies out there, and we only do as our artist requests. We will demand for things like music videos and new singles, maybe even an album, but we understand that you are very serious about school, so we will not load you with too much work. We offer classes to learn instruments, all free once you join, and you could sing and train your voice solo or with a tutor, so you can improve your raw talent further. Just join us, we are sure you will love it there, and it will give you a place to stay when you aren't busy. Your friend here will also be able to come, as well as your other four friends, if they wish to visit you. What do you say?"

After the second man, the one with no patterns on his suit had spoken, Erza had started daydreaming. Her dream could finally come true! She could sing, and no one would judge her. She could also choose what to sing and not stay at home in that massive mansion when no one was there. Gray could also visit... But then she thought of the consequences: would they really want an amateur like her? Would it really be worth it? She didn't know.

Gray had been seeing Erza's stoic face morph into several different expressions, showing hints of confusion here and there. He looked at her eyes searchingly, and after her vision had come back she looked into his too. She saw that he was worried for her. One thing that was obvious to her was that he had clearly set up this whole thing. _Maybe it's why he hung up, to help me? _All of a sudden, she knew that she absolutely could not refuse. It was an amazing opportunity and Gray had tried so hard so she could get noticed, which she had never expected would be on such a grand scale as this. Resolutely, Erza yelled, "Yes!"

The three business agents nodded at each other with content smiles, glad that she had agreed. After all, losing such talent in the music industry would be a lot of waste. They all stood up before shaking hands with her, and then they shook hands with Gray, the man with the striped suit patting Gray on the back fiercely as if to congratulate him. They all left to leave a silent pair- Gray and Erza. At last, Gray whispered,  
"You've made it," to fill the silence.

Erza's smile grew wider before she started to squeal quietly before having a full on outburst of excitement. She had made it! Her dream could finally become a reality!

* * *

**Cana's House - 4:55 pm**

Cana and Hibiki sat on the sofa nervously waiting for Cana's father to start talking. He was sat opposite them, silently brooding. Gildarts was not shouting at either of them (as they had not dared open their mouths) therefore, so far it was good. Cana looked at all the family photos, so familiar yet distant. She hadn't been in this house for so long, she had really missed it. And soon, she would also have her own family...

Cana really did love her father, and she loved Hibiki as well. She didn't want the two people she loved the most (in different ways) to argue. All this stress was surely not good for the baby, so things would soon have to be finalised and some facts, even though they may be hard to accept, would have to be swallowed, no further venturing in the matter. The clock ticked, the seconds passed and they both just nervously waited.

"Cana," Gildarts said quietly, which made both of them jump. Cana straightened her dress, her bump a bit more visible.  
"Y...yes father?" she replied, stuttering a bit.  
"Do you drink?" he asked. At that, Cana allowed herself to see Gildarts' face and then went quiet again.  
"Not anymore father. Not after I found out I was pregnant," that was technically half true, as Gray throwing away all her booze had happened just the night before she had bribed Hibiki to buy her tons to drink.

The word 'pregnant' made Gildarts and Hibiki flinch a bit at the reality of things. Gildarts nodded. Then, he asked, "Can you vouch for Hibiki?" Cana stared at her father with a surprised expression. Every other time he had spoken about him, it was an insult like: pest, ogre ,gnome, gorilla and many other animals/creatures that he probably disliked, but never actually his name. Cana then nodded vigorously, showing that even without words, she would always vouch for the man she was about to marry.

They stayed in suspenseful silence for a few seconds before hearing his verdict...

...

"Yes... I will go to the wedding and I will gladly hand you over to Hibiki over here," Gildarts finally said. The two teens filled with hormones flung themselves at the poor, unfortunate father who would be fiercely hugged by two strong teenagers.

**A/N: Yeah, no I'm writing two tomorrow xD It's 00:15, and I want to sleep because tomorrow is my last day of school before two weeks of holiday xD I even have a school trip, so I don't want to be exhausted. Stay safe, happy and amazing my adorable little chibis ;) \\(*^-^*)/ Hugs!**

**Roxanne~**


	28. The Debacle

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Yes, I know, I'm sorry xD I have three chapters due... I guess I could try to do at least two today? Anyways, my mum bought me some cool shoes that look like sneakers but inside there are heels, and I managed to stop walking like a penguin after practicing with my sister :D! However, now my whole body is in pain for some reason xD I won't stop writing though ;p Hope you enjoy this short chapter :) (Wait a minute, what do you guys consider short, is 2k short or long xD?)**

**Chapter XXVIII: The Debacle**

**Park - After Jude discovers Natsu and Lucy (refer to chapter 21 ;) )**

"Lucy, what the hell are you doing? Disgracing our family with this vagabond?" shouted Jude. Lucy just stared at him with shock, no words forming to say something back. Her eyes lingered on her father's before she looked down at the hand that was forcefully holding her wrist. She stayed silent for a few more seconds, and the air became thick with tension. Jude slowly removed his hand from his daughter's wrist, realising that is had left a very visible red hand print. Without warning, silent tears flowed out of Lucy's eyes. She didn't need to speak to show how hurt she was.

To stop himself from apologising, he stared at the boy who had caused all this. He glared intensely at the Salmon haired boy who did not reciprocate his stare. Instead, he was looking at Lucy with so much worry, he would have probably hugged her if her father wasn't there.  
"Stop staring at my daughter!" Jude rudely interrupted, which earned him a slap from Lucy.

He touched his cheek, and it stung. Had she actually dared touch him? The man who had raised her?! The tears in Lucy's eyes were still flowing, but she looked at the man who she had stopped considering a father a long time ago.  
"You have no right to call me your daughter," she whispered as the air turned from warm to windy. Jude stared at her, slightly amused. Of course he was her father! He had provided everything for her, yet she was still being an ungrateful daughter, like always.

As they caught each other's eyes, Lucy saw exactly what he had thought.  
"You're right, you are biologically my father and you have provided everything for me all m life. All but one thing...  
Love.  
Do you even know what that word means Jude?"

Jude stared at Lucy with shock, she didn't even consider him her father anymore, so she called him by his first name? Jude gulped, realising just how badly the situation had deteriorated. He nodded, but Lucy could see that his eyes had drifted, showing that he was lying. She suddenly laughed a humourless laugh, glad that she could read the man who had brought so much sorrow in her life so easily. She started shaking her head at a steady tempo, trying to make sense of the mess she was currently in.

"You may have known it when you loved mother, but that was the past. You definitely don't know what the word love means. You've lost it and now you can't feel it anymore, only powerful, angry emotions that are destructive to everyone around you. That's fine, I don't care about you anyways. But... one thing. Even if you have lost the emotion, don't let me lose it. Not when I've actually found it and treasure it, don't make me a tragic hero like you. I never want to speak to you again, but that seems a bit cruel, doesn't it? Reminds me of the neglect you showed me. Guess what? Talk to me when you know what the word love means and what you feel when you are in love with someone." And with that, Lucy walked away, still holding Natsu's hand.

As they walked, Natsu could feel Lucy's hand trembling. The trembling spread throughout her whole body like wildfire, consuming her until she was on the ground in a heap, a tree behind her supporting her. She couldn't even believe what had happened. In the back of her mind, she had always wanted her father Jude to meet Natsu under different circumstances - maybe when they finally acted like father and daughter, not like complete strangers. She had wanted him to accept at least one thing in her life, but it clearly wasn't to be.

She had stopped crying a while ago, but Natsu had known all the while that she had been scared. She had used her courage to talk back to her father, and he was proud of her for that. Now, as he saw her shaking like a leaf, he knew that he had to console her because she seemed so fragile. He slowly bent down beside her and gave her a light hug. Natsu's warmth stopped her uncontrollable shaking, and now she just enjoyed the comfort of him always being there for her. She had no tears left, and her voice had been lost. She tried to whisper her thanks to Natsu as she looked at his sincere eyes, but somehow he knew that she wouldn't be able to speak, so he lightly kissed her lips instead. The kiss was small, sweet and full of sadness. They had both had to suffer the loss of their fathers in different ways, and this had made them closer than ever.

Natsu put his arm around her shoulder to keep her warm while he made himself sit cross legged before sighing. Even though Lucy had been rich and he was poor, life was cruel to everyone at one point. Lucy nuzzled herself on Natsu's neck, glad that she could feel his warmth and protection. Lucy had not known much about Natsu's past, but curiosity gnawed at her.  
"Natsu?" she asked, her voice finally back.  
"Hmn?" he replied, his thoughts far away.  
"Would you mind telling me about your past? You don't have to, I'm just a really curious person because I'm a journalist or I want to be, since I only write that short report thing at school for the newsletter, but I just love news and gossip, but of course I won't tell anyone if you want me to, I'm just really curious and I don't want you to think that I would betray you in any way..." After her speech, she could see that Natsu's grin had stretched to the max so you could see all his teeth in a huge toothy grin. He opened his eyes, his expression full of love before saying, "Of course.."

They stayed silent for a few moments, enjoying the silence and each other's company. It would have seemed like a normal day, them hanging out like usual, if they didn't feel so alone. Not alone in the sense that even if they were so close, they couldn't feel each other's presence. No. It was that feeling that they were in a game and they were the only two characters, they had no one to trust or help them at all, just enemies that attacked them at different sides. Their good friends were always there to help them, but they were both secretly scared of opening up. What would they think of them? Would they even want to be friends anymore?

"When I was young... my mother died. My family were never rich, so me being there was like a burden to both of them... I was an accident. Yes, my parents loved each other, but they only planned to make love to each other when they had more money to provide for a family," Natsu started blushing, the prospect of 'making love' still weird to talk about with his girlfriend.  
"When they had me, it was unexpected. It drained their financial income and all the food they had, they would try to feed me first. Even as a child, I had a huge appetite, so of course I was a burden to my parents. My mother soon passed away and my father hated me for taking the love of his life from him. I could do nothing to retaliate because it was true, so I just randomly fought people in anger. I have a bad temper now, but I had a really savage temper when I was young. It was practically explosive! I'm so glad that kids are not presidents because if I was elected... Let's just say the world would pretty much end and an apocalypse would start..." Lucy giggled and Natsu smiled a small smile before continuing,  
"I ran away to several different cities, towns, anywhere that I wouldn't starve for at least a month. I soon found Happy, and he's been with me ever since. I then met Mirajane, Cana and Gray, as well as Lisa..." For some strange reason, Lucy tensed at the name. Just the way he said it made her... Nervous? She didn't know why, but she wanted to badly know who that girl was, so she stayed silent and waited for him to continue.  
"I had a big crush on Lisanna... That's why I blamed myself for her death..." Lucy stared at Natsu in amazement. Him, a killer? No way, not possible - she knew him too well.  
"We were crossing the road... I held her hand... A car was crashing into us and she jumped in front of me... There was nothing I could do... I had scars and bruises, but it was nothing serious. She however was in a coma, and I wasn't able to see her, Mirajane didn't allow me. She told me that she died, so I ran away, knowing it was all completely my fault."  
"Why did Mira not allow you to visit this Lisanna girl, if you don't mind me asking?" interrupted Lucy.  
"Oh, Lisa is Mira's younger sister," answered Natsu.

"WHAT?! I've known Mira for ages and no one told me she had a sister?" said Lucy in despair, sad that one of her good friends had not trusted her enough to tell her such an important fact about her life. Noticing her reaction, Natsu squeezed her shoulder and pulled her closer to him.  
"Only those who were there in her past knew about her sister. After the accident, anyone new she met, she would keep it secret from them. It hurt too much for all of us to talk about her, and hearing people who knew nothing about the situation try to console all of us was just futile and annoying," Natsu said with a slightly hostile tone, but Lucy didn't mind. She knew exactly how that felt, after her mother passed away and people she barely knew asking her if "she was okay" and "what she would do". Those questions had made her stop talking to any strangers, especially the boys who had only wanted to date her (that's why Gray didn't want her to get with any other guy friends) as they didn't care. And how did they expect her to feel?! Happy?! She had cursed them endlessly in her mind when she was young hoping they would just leave her alone to grieve.  
"Anyway, after I ran away, I tried to make a living and travelled from place to place until I finally arrived back here. Magnolia. The place were all my nightmares came alive. I knew I had to face my problems one by one, and that was another reason I ran away - to try to find my father. I know that if he is even alive, he would never want to talk to be but hey, I can dream..." Things went silent again, but there was a darker mood lingering.

Then, Natsu's eyes flashed with a light that made Lucy jealous for some unknown reason before he said,  
"Luce, I didn't tell you the best part! Guess what?  
Lisanna is actually ALIVE! Mira told me a couple of days ago. Crazy, right?! The person I grieved for endlessly has actually been alive all this time and she looks the same age as you and me!" He said delightedly, not looking at Lucy. And frankly, that was a good thing. Lucy's expression dropped at the mention of that statement, even if it seemed completely mean to think like that...

* * *

**Redfox Mansion, 11:35 PM (Refer to chapter 23 ;) )**

After conferring for thirty minutes, the parents all looked at each other, not needing to actually look at each other to know what each other thought. After all, their minds had been made up for a long time. They all finished their cups of coffee and green tea before going next to their spouse and preparing themselves to see their children again. They walked regally out of the conference room, all chatter stopping as they entered from the conference room. Each one of them took their respective seats and noticed that the teenagers had not moved an inch from where they had been sitting.

Gajeel's stepfather started.  
"Son, I have known you for 15 years, and I have loved you for fifteen years. I hoped that you would see me as a father, not some man that your mother had married. I tried to provide and take care of you as best as I could, even though I knew the responsibilities as head of the house would be passed on to you as soon as you were five. I'm sorry for not being able to protect you or take care of you as much as I would have liked..." He paused, a light sheen in his eyes showing that he was about to cry. Gajeel's mother took her husband's hand gently and patted it with her other hand, hoping he would take comfort in the small gesture, knowing that part of his suffering was her fault.

Juvia's father continued.  
"As you both probably know, us adults have loved you for all your lives and we will continue to do so. The rules in our households were made so that you would always be protected. It is not out of spite, but out of our care for you. We realise that some rules are harsher than others, but you children have broken each and every single rule! We get that you are still young, but acting like a couple in a Korean drama will not help you in life! Do you know how many rules we have broken? Exactly, none, because we knew that our elders were always right, even if we disagreed."

The teenager's faces dropped, waiting for the likely outcome of their venture. It all seemed so pointless now!

Juvia's mother ended it.  
"You children are very wild and need to be controlled but... we know from experience that adults do not know everything. We said nothing, but we live with regrets each and every day. Me and your father were lucky that we actually loved each other as soon as we laid eyes on each other, but some people are not so lucky, like you two. That is why we consent the annulment of this engagement and we allow you to choose your spouses." All the adults nodded and smiled at each other, glad that the sentiments were all the same.

The three teenagers looked completely amazed. They had done it! They had actually managed to convince their parents! They all hugged each other before Gajeel sweetly kissed Levi, which caused everyone except him to blush because he didn't care. He could marry who he wanted! They gratefully thanked their parents before all going in a massive group hug.

**And I'm done :D. One sad and one happy ending (kinda?), that seems about right to me ;p Stay epic my beautiful, amazing, adorable little chibis and I hope you stay safe and awesome \\(*^-^*)/**

**Roxanne~**


	29. Back Again

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: So now I realise why I have physical pain xD Basketball... But at least it's not too bad, not like it usually is anyway xD So wearing heels for a whole day for a first time - success with barely any pain! Now, back to the story... We've actually passed halfway guys O-O I know, crazy right? x3 I'm just as surprised as you :D. Be prepared people, next chapter is definitely going to be at least 10k ;). Prepare your food, snacks, maybe tissues and your heart, because there will be strong emotions felt :D! Probably writing chapter 30 tomorrow :). This is probably short, just because I don't feel like it will be more than 2k, maybe less xD. Hope you guys have an amazing day and that all your crushes may notice you and try to talk to you ;) (If not, I will slap them for you and enter their dreams and tell them to hurry up and talk to ya ;p). I just watched Big Hero 6 and it was gahh! Do you know how many emotions I felt?! It made me laugh, it even made me cry for goodness sake xD I didn't even cry for TFIOS, but I did for fictional characters that are portrayed in animation x3 And Baymax! He's so cute and adorable and I want ten thousand of him, oh my gosh he's perfect and it was sad and beautiful and I want to watch it a million times! And Hiro and Tadashi, so adorable and gahh! Anywho... Enjoy!**

**Chapter XXIX: Back Again...**

Mirajane posed for the camera, mid air kiss while wearing a bright yellow summer dress. Her photo shoot ended and she drove home, tired from the stressful ten hour photo shoot. People thought being a model was easy, but it really wasn't. Some people were born photogenic, others had to learn and practice until they could be considered good enough to join the ruthless world of the modelling industry.

Mirajane sighed, tired from taking care of everything in her life. Being a news anchor, a model and an actress was very tiring, as well as taking care of her sister, who was finally awake. During the years in a coma, Lisa had become a bit needy, so Mirajane had tried to keep up with her little sister' s demands. Luckily, Elfman was taking care of her right now, glad to be able to spend time with his sister. After Lisanna had gone into the coma, Elfman had been too traumatised to go to school. On the spur of the moment, Mirajane had decided that Elfman would be home schooled until Lisanna woke up, so he wouldn't have to suffer seeing siblings every day at school, as even though he always talked about being "a man", he was very fragile and easy to break if you knew his weakness. Now that Lisanna was back, Elfman could finally go back to school. Mirajane smiled at the thought of that, because he could meet people and have normal high school experiences, maybe even fall in love.

Mirajane changed into her fluffy pyjamas, glad that she could finally relax after all the hard work she had done. She put on her slippers, tied her hair back and made her way to the mail box, hoping there was nothing so she could collapse on her bed. She frowned as she saw several monthly bills due and a big stack of papers. Ignoring the bills, as she always paid them on time anyway, she took the big stack of papers, regretting it instantly. It was a script for another movie that she was nominated to be in. Maybe if they had asked her about a week ago she would have accepted it, however, today was not their lucky day. She walked over to the bin and threw the script, hoping whoever was the backup actress could have a brilliant career.

She went to the kitchen and made herself put a lasagne in the microwave, too tired to cook but too hungry to go and sleep without food in her stomach. She ate is slowly on her leather sofa while turning on the TV for some background noise. She was in the adverts again, but she didn't want to see herself, so she switched channels until she could just watch a movie she wasn't in.

The reason why she was acting like such an introvert was because the nightmares had come back. The same. Recurring. Nightmare.  
It came to her every time she slept, but if she didn't sleep she would not have the energy to take care of her family and provide for them by working. The nightmares had made her scream and shiver, sweat always sticking to her. She would wake up gasping and trying to get her breath back while trying to forget the horrible memory of the man and her emotions before, during and after the whole ordeal.

Things had to change, and they had to change now. Mirajane had saved up enough money to help Elfman and Lisa. Their parents were still somewhere neglecting their children, but maybe she could convince them to take care of Lisanna and Elfman while she was away. Maybe they could all start acting like a family again. Even though it was pretty wishful thinking from Mirajane, she knew she at least had to try. Only Elfman and her knew that Lisanna was out of her coma, so if her parents knew that she was out of the coma, they may actually care for once. They had left years ago for no apparent reason, and they had never tried to contact their children, leaving all their responsibilities on Mirajane as she was the oldest child.

She nodded to herself, her plan finalised. She would go on a short break and no one in her life right now would be involved. She could try to find the man and put him in prison, because he may have taken other unfortunate victims. If he lived a normal life, she could at least get an apology so he would not have to be embarrassed in front of his (potential) wife and (potential) kids. She smiled at her idea, finally getting a peace of mind after all those years of torture. She needed to find herself. To find out who she was: Mirajane Strauss. Not the actress, not the model, not the news anchor, not the big sister, not the victim of rape - just her, the person who she would have been without all those responsibilities and events.

Resolutely, she picked up her phone, her tiredness now evaporated, and started making phone calls. firstly, her parents:  
"Hello mother," Mirajane whispered.  
"Mira! Why haven't you ever called? We were stranded and we didn't have any connection for years! The adventures we went on. Someone stole our phone and when the police found it for us, we saw they deleted all out contacts, including you. We had no one, you couldn't believe how much we missed our three babies... Mira, please tell me that you are better? I don't want you to suffer just because some humans are despicable... And how is Elfman? Is he a big boy? And Lisa, is she better? We are so sorry, please forgive us for being gone for so long. With no money and no one to trust, we feared for the worst. Please talk to me Mira, are you okay?" It was clear that Mrs. Strauss had cried for a long time and was still crying during the conversation. Their parents really hadn't abandoned them! Tears of relief brought Mirajane back to reality before she told her mother that everything was fine and that she would pay for them to come back, as they had barely any money there, even after all those years. The parting was light-hearted and happy, and Mirajane was so grateful that her parents truly weren't evil people and did care for their children. Lisa and Elfman's safety had been taken care of, now she just had to pay the bills and see her siblings one last time before she could have some alone time.

Mirajane went to her study and sat down on her desk, glad that her laptop was new, so it didn't lag or try to waste her time. She logged into her accounts and paid all her bills and also paid the ones for the next six months. Her parents did not have money at the moment, so she didn't want to burden them and ask them to pay when they would be barely adjusted. Once they started up their businesses again, they could be able to pay. After all Mirajane had plenty of money to spend on her family, as saving and not wasting money had been something she had been extremely careful of. Who knows? Maybe she might study business in University and make a huge enterprise. She shook her head at the idea, reminding herself that she had to live in the present, not in the past or the future. She had done too much of that anyway.

She got up and started the car, hoping that it would go at its full velocity because she had paid too much for it to falter on her. She drove in silence, the only sounds coming from the houses and cars. She did a hard left and swerved right, finally arriving at the hospital. She smiled at the receptionist who had been unchanged ever since she had arrived at the hospital for the first time with Lisanna and Natsu. She walked briskly to Lisanna's room, hoping that she would be awake. She didn't know if she had the courage to wake her sister up if she was asleep and tell her what she was about to do.

She had changed into a pair of jeggings and a black t-shirt, hoping no one would judge her too harshly on why she wasn't wearing designer brands as well as her black sneakers. She opened the room door to find Elfman holding Lisanna's hand while he told her a story, and she laughed her sweet laugh. They caught each other's eyes before she went to hug both of them. They hugged her just as tightly and lingered for a few seconds before letting go. She asked common questions like their health and if they both felt better, and they replied that they were doing fine and that everything was alright.

She asked Elfman to go outside with her for a few seconds. She told him her plans about taking a vacation and that their parents were back, and they both hugged each other once again, glad that the feelings were mutual. Mirajane asked him to wait outside so she could personally tell Lisanna, who would probably have a harder time without her big sister.

"Hey," Lisanna said, glad that her sister was back.  
"Hi Lisa," Mirajane smiled.  
"How are you?" Lisanna asked, trying to get her sister to open up.  
"Lisa, I'm going away. Our parents are coming back, so they will take care of you..."

There was a moment of tension before Lisanna quietly said,  
"Okay."

Mirajane took out her mobile while sitting down on the seat provided before putting it on the cabinet beside her. She always fumbled with her phone and put it somewhere whenever she got nervous.  
"Lisanna?"

"Hmn?"

"You know that whatever happens, you cannot call Natsu, right?" Mirajane asked. Lisanna opened her eyes wide while staring at her sister's. Why couldn't she talk to Natsu?

"I haven't told him yet about you, I only said that you were still in a coma. After his visit, he didn't know you woke up, and I want to keep it this way. After all that happened with him, I don't think it's best for you and him to talk... He was really hurt, and I know you Lisa. You are beautiful, amazing and sweet, but when it comes to Natsu, nothing good will come out of it. I know you, and I know that you will do whatever it takes to have him, even if he isn't yours! Listen to me Lisa!" she shouted, seeing that her sister was daydreaming and losing interest. She didn't want her sister to go back and do what she did when they were younger. Natsu was already too broken for that. Lisanna suddenly snapped out of it and smiled, but it didn't seem too sincere to Mirajane.  
"Of course I won't!" she vowed. Mirajane sighed and hugged her sister before saying her goodbyes and leaving.

What she didn't see was her sister had crossed her hands behind her back. And another thing she had failed to do is take her cell phone, which she had left right next to Lisanna. Greedily, she snatched it. Would she really go so far to start something that was left unfinished long ago?  
"Sorry sis..."  
At that moment, she didn't care about the part of her that objected with her and she then checked for Natsu's contact details before calling him. She heard the insistent ringing sound with impatience, hoping that he would pick up.

"Hello?" said a very familiar voice of a certain Salmon haired boy.

"Heya, I'm back again..."

**And done :D I'm so exhausted, I don't even know why xD Hope my little adorable chibis have an amazing week and you guys feel happy and are showered with love by your family and friends ;) Don't be shy and find the courage to do all the things you wish to, because living in regret is pointless ;) \\(*^-^*)/**

**Roxanne~**


	30. I Dare You

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Hey guys, it's chapter 30 here! I can't believe I've actually written this much O-O... This chapter is definitely long so you will probably need refreshments and frequent breaks, especially if you've read from the start of the story xD If you guys haven't guessed what chapter I'm ending this little story on, here's a clue :p: Half way through a chapter that was close to the previous chapter, not right next to it, but halfway in the middle to create an odd number for the last chapter, it has a decimal place and it has the most importance in Erza's life ;p Wow, that was confusing xD Hope you have a fun time figuring that one out :p Sorry if this is uploaded way after midnight, I was procrastinating xD**

**Grayza forever: Thank you :D! And I'm glad 2k is enough, I never know because everyone on ff has such different writing styles and the lengths vary always x3. And wow, really? D: That's amazing, I can't believe mine is actually the longest Grayza story :D! I feel like I've actually achieved something, even though the length would probably put off many people xD Oh well :) I'll try to keep it up, thank you for always leaving such sweet and encouraging reviews \\(*^-^*)/!**

**Chapter XXX: I Dare You**

**Fairy Tail classroom 9:40 am**

The Fairy Tail students were all finally in their respective classes after weeks of fuss and people getting accepted, rejected and entering everyone in data bases and so many other legal requirements to get the three schools to finally join. It was currently time for History and the SC members were all in the same class. Gray sat behind Erza at the back, Natsu sat next to Lucy at the front right desk while Juvia and Gajeel sat on different desks two desks away from each other (and of course, Levy sat next to Gajeel).

The morning had been pretty quiet because everyone knew that there were new arrivals, and Elfman's reappearance had shocked everyone. He had been gone for years, and now he was just suddenly all grown up, looking more intimidating than the yakuza members in the classroom next door. He had spiky hair and was really tall compared to most students, which was drastically different from when he looked like a good boy with a suit and normal hair. He sat at the front next to Evergreen.

The teacher sat in silence, waiting for the three new students that were supposed to arrive. This had surprised everyone because the three schools had apparently been too full to administer new students, so they must have been pretty important to actually be accepted after so many that had ventured had been refused. The clock ticked and five minutes passed in suspenseful wait. How much longer would they take?

Finally, the door opened, and three students walked confidently to the front of the class, all three looking very unique. Two males and one female. One was Ginger, one had Black hair and the other had Green hair. One of them had a puffy green coat with an orange shirt with blue glasses and a pair of black trousers, the other boy wore a brown cape sort of thing with a red shirt and beige trousers with a skull belt, while the girl wore a yellow hat with a black mini dress with white stripes at the top and bottom of her simplistic dress with cowboy boots.

The Ginger guy spoke first, trying to sound seductive to the whole population of girls in the room. "Hey girls, my name is Loke. Let me show you a fun time when I'm around, during the day and night, I'm always available," and he air kissed. Most of the girls in the class (except Lucy, Erza, Juvia, Cana and Levi) squealed and applauded him, already under his spell. The other two transfer students sighed at his antics, while the guys who never got any action or didn't have girlfriends glared at him, tired of having another pretty boy in the class.

Loke stared at all his classmates, casually winking once or twice at the girls. Surprisingly, five girls had completely ignored his beauty and handsomeness, or they didn't care, which was rare. He caught the Blonde's eye, trying to figure out why she wasn't madly in love with him like the rest of her class. She stared back, silent communication passing between them. A sudden wave of nostalgia and broken pasts all came to him. He stopped looking at her, scared at how transfixed he had become from just one glance at her. He tried to pant slowly without anyone noticing too much. How come he was having all these feelings all of a sudden? His vision got slightly blurry from the memories that were coming back to him.

_My name is not actually Loke... My name is Leo. My birth name is Leo and that name will always be imprinted inside me, but there is a reason I always go by the name of Loke. I was poor when I was young, but I lived a good and fun childhood. My parents always struggled to take care of me, but what they couldn't make up in money, they could make up with their immense love for me. I loved them, and they loved me. As school was becoming more expensive, we barely had anything to eat. I couldn't watch my parents suffer like that, because I knew that I was the main reason that they were losing so much money. I chose to do the only thing I thought I could do, since I wasn't that much help to companies.__  
__I sold myself.__  
__I put an advert saying that I would serve whoever bought me. It was unlikely that anyone would accept, since I was only a boy. However, luck has always been on my side, so I soon found a master - or should I say, mistress. Her name was Karen Lilica. It wasn't just me that chose to serve her, it was also a girl called Aries. We were apparently 'special' because we represented the Zodiacs, which meant that as we grew older we would gradually have more and more power in society. That was one of the reasons that I always wanted to grow up quickly, so I could finally support my parents. When me and Aries worked for Karen, we barely got to do any work as she treated us kindly and made sure we were fed and warm. As the years passed, our ranks in society grew, meaning that we had more income. Karen didn't want to let us go, as she used us to fight and win in matches, We had to give her a percentage of our money, even though we sometimes rebelled or hid it, and she would punish us by starving us if we disobeyed her. Knowing that we would try to escape when she wasn't looking, she always made sure we walked next to her whenever we were outside and she made sure to put hand cuffs on us while we slept. We were forced to live and sleep in the same room with one bed and have one bathroom, even though she had a large enough mansion to accommodate both of us. She also had other servants who were named after Zodiacs or were part of the Stellar Keys Mystery, but we were not allowed to interact with them. Karen had a pair of Stellar Keys, an object that allowed her to open any door. We never knew what she did with the Stellar Keys, but seeing that she had no job but had so much money led to many conclusions, including the numerous reports of bank robberies. The abuse grew, but it was directed more to Aries than me. During the years, I had seen Aries as my little sister, so whenever she was getting hurt by Karen, I would try to protect her. Karen would punish us both, but at least she never separated us. She was sadistic and cruel, using us as shields whenever she got into fights. Aries was not weak, but she was still only a young girl and seeing her being used to Karen's pleasure by torturing her and making her stay near her countless ex boyfriends always made me boil with rage. I was so much stronger than her! Thanks to my age and the strength I had accumulated, I started getting braver, like my name sake. I started judging her and refusing to do things that I would have previously done with no hesitation. She knew my weakness was Aries, so she would punish her. It was torture because after years of keeping us together, she finally decided to separate us while she tortured each of us individually. I never knew what she did to Aries, but I had different speculations that she trapped her outside the balcony to freeze and have nothing to eat or drink. One time, she had kept Aries out in the balcony for three days, and I had gone mad and tried to bang the door open. Aries opened the door and collapsed in my arms, freezing cold and too thin. She had a fever for weeks and Karen had gone on a vacation, so I took care of her, hoping that she wouldn't die. We needed each other. If we didn't have each other, we would both fall. Karen came back, having more boyfriends than I had meals in a month and she played her sadistic games again, teasing us and making us suffer. My power grew more and more and I couldn't just watch what she did to us without doing anything. She slapped Aries and Aries fell to the floor, just because she had refused to 'play' with Karen's boyfriends. Karen had locked her near the balcony again, but she had also tied her to the pole next to the balcony. It was agony hearing her scream for her life as she dangled there for ages, crying and screaming and begging to go back inside.__  
__I snapped.__  
__Without remorse, I pushed Karen away from the door. I heard a loud crash, but I could care less about her. I removed the rope tying Aries to the pole and I carried her away from that house that had ruined our lives. She cried on my shoulder, completely exhausted and cold from being there for ages. She couldn't speak, she just sobbed and cried, not telling me anything. I held her and didn't let go because I feared that she would break if I let her go. I only knew one place away from that demonic Karen that she couldn't reach - my house. I walked at a slow pace, trying not to wake her up in my arms. It was absolute torture trying to not run in fear that she was following us. We were only two miles from my house when the worst happened. Karen shouted, "STOP! I OWN YOU!" Aries woke in my arms, petrified. Both our heart rates quickened as we were scared of going through all that emotional trauma again. I gently placed Aries on the floor, hoping that she would either run or do anything other than be with me. It was for the best. I had to sacrifice myself. I walked to Karen, determined. My heart rate slowed down and I could feel myself slowing down, like a slow motion scene in a movie. Karen was only a few meters away, the traffic light red. I walked closer to her, hoping that Aries was running away. I looked back for a second to see that she was still there, fear on her face as she shook her head to stop me. I started looking forward again when I saw her trying to stand in my peripheral vision. I knew she would be too weak to reach me, so I just kept walking on. We were now standing next to each other, face to face. I stared at her brown eyes, transfixed. She wasn't looking at me with rage, which surprised me. She slapped me, and it stung. I couldn't care too much, just wanting to get the process of going back in her evil clutches over and done with. It was too late when I saw that Aries was right next to me, pushing me back so she could sacrifice herself for me. It was all a blur. I remember shouting at her to stay away, even grabbing her wrist and trying to pull her back, but she just ignored me and kept on begging Karen to take her instead. I could faintly hear the sound of a truck, but Aries not listening to me was the most important thing in that moment. She had to leave.__  
__Aries pushed me hard on the floor on the pavement. I didn't even have time to react as I saw the truck hit Aries and Karen. I sat there on the floor, pain and anguish coursing through me. I became physically and emotionally damaged in that moment. I was to blame for Aries' death. I was also to blame for Karen's death. It may have been indirect, but I still caused it. Not knowing what to do, I fled. I never got to see Aries' body, only Karen's in a pool of her own blood. I could only cry because I felt like I was being punished for trying to escape. A month later, after I had changed my hair and personality to become 'Loke', I read in a newspaper that Karen had died instantly. They had written nothing about Aries, probably because they thought that she wouldn't be missed. I would miss her. Forever and always...__  
__Now, after accumulating enough power thanks to being part of the Zodiacs, I still keep the name Loke as only a few people know my real identity. I came back to Magnolia, ready to face my past and find Aries' grave so I could finally grieve with her by my side. Depressing, I know, but something I have been carrying with me ever since I left._

He looked in the direction of the Blonde girl again, hoping to figure out why he was feeling like this - so... nostalgic. Her warm brown eyes were directed at the boy sitting next to her. Loke could see that he had Salmon hair and his visible muscles proved that he was indeed very strong. Could he be her boyfriend? Loke smiled to himself. He would definitely try to make her another one of his several conquests.

The class' attention was then directed at the two other new transfer students. The boy looked a bit shyer out of the two while the girl stood still with one hand on her hip as she scrutinised the class with an expressionless face. They looked at each other and they both instantly became shyer. They started looking at the floor and walls, hoping that somehow the other hadn't noticed their direct gaze at each other. The Black haired boy even laughed awkwardly, trying to not seem obvious. The class were very confused by the pair, who seemed to be nervous around each other even though they were fine while looking at a small crowd.

"My name is Alzack Connell," said the boy with a much more confident voice. He looked like one of those characters in the wild west who had guns and fought cowboys. The Green haired girl also spoke, straight after him as if on cue.  
"My name is Bisca Connell, and I'm Alzack's sister." She also looked like a wild west character.

Everyone in the class stared at the two, surprised that they were siblings. While they did have similar styles in clothes, they looked absolutely nothing like each other. The class started to murmur with each other, plotting theories on why they looked nothing like each other, if they were both in the same year. There was no way that they could be twins! Not even fraternal, because they would at least had some similarities. They honestly didn't even look related.

Bisca started to chuckle at the class' confusion, finding it too funny. She could tell the tale of why they looked nothing like each other, but it was a sort of private story that she would only share with only her close friends. After all, there was no way that she wanted people who she was close to think that she was in love with her own brother.

_When I was young, I had both my parents. But I hated them. Seems ungrateful, I know, but I never wanted to be related to them. They never cared for me, seeing me like an extra mouth to feed and a waste of time to take care of. I then became angry, taking it out on everything I owned. They didn't even care, they didn't even try to become kinder or change their attitudes towards me. The neglect became so large that I felt like I was suffocating. I couldn't live in that house anymore, where I would never be able to learn the meaning of being loved. I tried everything for them, hoping they would at least be proud of me once, but to no avail. It became toxic living in that miserable house and I was so glad that I had never asked for a sibling, because they would also have had to live with the neglect, only getting love from me. I called the police, saying that I was a prisoner in the house and that no one cared for me. They believed me and came right away, which I was really grateful for. They arrested my parents and took me to a care home. I ignored all the kids there, who were just annoying wannabes that didn't care about nothing but themselves. All I cared about was survival in life. I would grow up, get a job, earn a living and die in peace. No love, no family, nothing that could get in my way. No one tried to mess with me and I appreciated it because I would have probably resorted to violence. It was a quiet few weeks before families started to come and adopt one of us. Every time a couple saw me, they quickly looked away, terrified by the unsmiling girl. I didn't mind too much because if they couldn't handle me being emotionless, how could they handle me in anger? Sadness? Fear? Exactly.__  
__People came and went and new people came in and other kids left._ _I cared about none of them, so it did not matter to me that they were all leaving. It was actually a good thing - less annoying people in my life. I became an extrovert, going outside and throwing pebbles with accuracy at things. I didn't hurt animals, I just hit random objects. I would also climb trees and just be at one with nature, finding peace in a place that I had found boring only a few months ago. It was relaxing to be alone, but I knew that I couldn't neglect the feeling of loneliness much longer. It consumed me every day and night, making me stay wide awake while I heard everyone else's peaceful snoring. I didn't know when, but I knew that I would soon go crazy with just talking in my head, having no one else to listen to...__  
__Then, I met the Connell family. They were a kind middle class family with a nice house and a love for all things wild west. They came one day, hoping to maybe adopt a child. As soon as they saw my attire, they started asking me about my interests and what I did for fun. I answered truthfully, a smile creeping onto my face as I described my passions. The couple seemed to smile more and more, making me glad that someone was finally listening to me, after all those years of being completely silent. Many people in the care home thought that I was actually mute, but that was never true. I just didn't like talking to people. The adults in the care home had been just as surprised as the kids when I spoke, almost fainting when I smiled. Right after I had finished, they had dragged the Connell couple into the conference room. I assume now that they just talked about adopting me, hoping that they would say yes. They came out of the room, a huge smile on their faces as they announced that from that day on I would be living with them. I squealed, something very unlike myself, as I hugged them and thanked them for adopting me. They both had silky Black hair, and as I talked to Mrs. Connell she saw how I had enviously gazed at her hair. She had allowed me to touch it, and it was the silkiest feeling in the world. She laughed at how transfixed I was by her hair, but I could only concentrate on combing it gently with my fingers as we talked about the best type of guns and how to effectively shoot a target. After my bags were packed, we drove to their house. It was a fun journey full of singing and jokes, me experiencing for the first time what love actually felt like. It was amazing, and I never wanted to let it go.__  
__We arrived at their house and it was everything I hoped it would be. Instead of going to the front door, I jumped over the fence and went to the back garden, amazed at how green it was. There was even a swing set and all sorts of obstacle courses and trees to climb. I jumped around excitedly, wanting to try everything. Mr. Connell grabbed me and made me fly, which made me giggle uncontrollably. He said I could play after I finished unpacking my bags, so I held both of their hands while we walked up the stairs and into my room. The room already had a single bed and some posters of guns and anything to do with cowboys. I gleefully jumped on my bed, finally content with my life. I must have slept the instant I jumped on the bed because I woke up on it at midnight. I shivered slightly when I woke up, seeing that the window was open and there was a full moon. I saw that my bedroom had already been made for me and they had put the covers on my bed so I wouldn't be too cold. I got up, thanking my new parents silently, and looked at the full moon.__  
__I felt something cold and plastic at the back of my head as I heard the sound, "Boo." It was very quiet, but it still startled me and I jumped in fright, thinking that someone was about to kill me. I heard male laughter from behind me. I turned around to see a boy who was probably the same age as me wearing cowboy-like clothes holding a plastic gun. One of his eyes was covered by his fringe and I saw that they were black, just like his Black hair. "Who are you?" I asked, my voice having a slight trembling quality.  
"My name is Alzack!" He said, a huge grin on his face. He looked so happy that I couldn't help giving him a similar one back. We shook hands before he closed my door silently. I remember thinking to myself that it was probably the weirdest encounter I had ever been trough. The next day, we saw each other at breakfast and he smiled at me, and I smiled back. Our parents had gone to work early, so they had left cereal and milk for us. I had accidentally spilled some milk, but Alzack had helped me clean it off so it would go down in history as one of the Connell family secrets. He excitedly grabbed my hand and led me to a room with a large door. He turned the key in the keyhole and I saw everything that I had ever wanted. I saw that it was a homemade shooting range, perfect if someone wanted to practice shooting. We picked up two toy guns each and we used rocks as our ammo, knowing that the adults would not appreciate us using the real guns. At first, I missed the target, which infuriated me. Alzack had just stared in concentration, not laughing at me as I missed it repeatedly. I knew that he was silently encouraging me without making me lose my track of thought. After several tries, I finally hit the target. "YES!" I cried out, proud of myself for actually hitting the target. Alzack had scooped me up in his arms and hugged me tenderly, making me uncontrollably blush. Instead of letting go after putting my feet on the floor again, we just held each other for a few moments.__  
__Since then, many events like that have happened, me accidentally holding his hand, us accidentally falling on top of each other and other sorts of things. I would like to hide my feelings from him forever, but it's so hard. Just last week, we had been millimetres apart. It had taken every ounce of power I did not posses to stop myself from making our lips crash. I knew that people would think badly of us - two sibling dating. But it wasn't like we were actually blood related!...__  
__I am also petrified that he doesn't have feelings for me. What if he only sees me as a younger sister that he has to take care of? We have been in several compromising positions, yet he never tried to do anything. He had always made an excuse or backed away, looking as if he was trying to forget the event that had happened seconds ago. I knew that it was likely that he didn't love me, but I am so madly in love with him. It hurts seeing him with other girls because if they chose to ask him out and he said yes, no one in society would judge them. If I tried, many people would say it was "morally wrong". B.S. is all I would say to them.__  
__A few weeks ago, mother saw me crying in my bedroom. She had asked me what was wrong, and I had spilled everything. I probably shouldn't have, but I needed someone to tell me that it was okay to love him. She had listened attentively to everything that I had said and even gave me a hug at the end of it. I had been so grateful for her affection towards me and she had given me her approval. That was the push I had needed to take more action. Maybe, just maybe, something could work out. I had waited years for my prince to notice me, I would have the same patience all over again for him to see me as a woman, not his sister._

The History teacher assigned them their seats, allowing Alzack and Bisca to sit next to each other while Loke sat in front of Lucy and Natsu. The lesson finally started, making some students groan and other listen attentively. As Erza's mind wondered, she thought of how Gray's voice was a treasure in her life. It always made her instantly happier, yet other people didn't get to feel the joy she felt. She wondered if he only sang to her, of if he had sang to his countless flings. Without noticing, Gray had turned around to her, trying to figure out what she was thinking about. He smiled, remembering that she really was a daydreamer. He stared at her beautiful brown eyes, trying to figure out her deepest emotions. How could someone the same age as him have such a complex mind?

His eyes wandered around her face before they inevitably stopped on her lips. They were a bit chapped because of him. He remembered sneaking into her house as a prank and setting the alarm to be late for school so that she would be late. How he wished they were chapped for a different reason. He felt a pair of eyes watching him and he looked up to meet the Titania's eyes. She stared at his dark blue eyes, wondering what exactly he was looking at. Before trying to utter a word, the class erupted in laughter. Erza's eyes widened as she realised why they were laughing: Gray was half naked. For some unknown reason, he had removed his shirt while the teacher had been lecturing.

"Put your shirt back on, or it will be an after school detention! And turn around Gray Fullbuster!" shouted loudly the teacher. The teacher was from his previous school, St Hope, so he teased her by putting on his clothes slowly and seductively, which had many girls in the class almost faint. Erza chose to cover her eyes with her hand, embarrassed that she knew such an embarrassing person. He then started slowly stroking his six pack, making the girls die of too much dehydration. Even the teacher started sweating. He saw how Erza was glaring at him, so he laughed out loud before slowly buttoning up his shirt. The girls started screaming when they saw that he had no trousers! Unconsciously, he had removed his trousers while buttoning up his shirt. All the girls were quickly rushed out of the classroom, including the teacher. All the guys except Natsu chose to glare at him, while Natsu started shouting at him for being an inappropriate stripper, which ensued in some banter.

After Gray had been tied to his chair to force him to stay fully clothed (ordered by Erza Scarlet), the lesson went on normally, talking about the History of Magnolia.  
"Magnolia has been recorded as one of the oldest cities in Fiore. It has several rival schools which compete each year to win special prizes. Thousands of years ago, the schools were called Guilds, allowing mages of all ages to join. In several myths, it was said that the people possessed different powers, including the Stellar Key Mystery and the Dragon Slayer technique. Apparently, many people used to have powers and it was glorious seeing the people in Guilds battle others and each other. Guild members were always loyal to each other, glad that they could protect even their most hated comrades. Guilds were like families and the Guild master would go to Guild meetings to talk to other Guild masters. They were pretty eccentric, but loved each and every one of their Guild members. They would go on quests, using their powers to make a living. Those who were more powerful could get higher ranked jobs, making them infamous for doing things that barely anyone else could do. As well as Guilds, there were Dark Guilds. While the Guilds were friendly and didn't kill and only fought monsters, Dark Guilds broke all the laws, even going so far as to killing innocent people just to get to their objective. They despised normal Guilds, and if these two types of Guilds went against each other, the normal citizens with no powers knew right away that it meant war. It was gruesome witnessing the true evil of those Dark Guilds, but the Fairy Tail guild would always win and live to fight..."

As the teacher continued on with her History lesson, Gray once again turned around to Erza and said, "What power would you have if you were in that world?" Erza thought for a moment, seriously considering what she would choose. Then, it finally clicked, "Reequip magic."  
"What?" Gray asked, confused.  
"Reequip magic is when the mage can change their weapon at will. However, instead of that basic power, I would also be able to change my outfit, which would increase the advantages of the weapon and the situation I'm in," she said as her brown eyes sparkled.  
"Confident, aren't we?" Gray noted with a raised eyebrow.  
"Of course I am. I would also protect my Guild as much as possible."  
"How gallant of you," he said with a wink.  
"Well, you would do the same anyway. What would your power be?" asked Erza, curious of the Raven haired boy's answer.  
"Ice make," he said with no hesitation.  
"What's that?" asked Erza.  
"I can make anything with my hands using ice. It would be a type of Moulding magic." Gray finished, a small smile on his face. Erza nodded, thinking that his power would be very befitting.  
"It would be very pretty," she whispered.  
"What?" Gray asked, thinking that Erza might have said something, but was not too sure.  
"Oh, nothing!" she said a bit too quickly.

"Oi, what are you talking about ice princess?!" Natsu shouted from the opposite side of the classroom. The teacher had separated everyone into groups to discuss what she had talked about and they were allowed to choose their own groups, so she ignored Natsu shouting as he was moving closer to Erza and Gray with an arm around Lucy.  
"Miss me already, fire brain?"  
"In your dreams stripper!" Natsu once again yelled, causing him to be heavily warned by the teacher. He apologised before sitting next to Erza and Lucy sat next to Gray. The best friends hugged each other (Lucy hugging Gray and Erza hugging Natsu), glad that even after all this time apart hey could still talk to each other normally.  
"So what were you talking about?" said Lucy, her inner gossip queen taking over.  
"What power would you have?" asked Gray, having a distinct idea of what she would say. Before she could answer, Loke walked up to them and leaned closer to Lucy saying, "Hey babe, you remind me of someone in the past, have we met before?"  
Without even bothering to look at him, Erza punched him in the gut, leaving him rolling on the floor. Natsu said "High five!" and they high fived while smiling at Loke's pain. He had randomly interrupted their conversation and even tried to flirt with Lucy, who was taken.  
"Erza!" Lucy said while trying to stop herself from laughing out loud. Erza just shrugged, not apologetic in any way, before motioning for her to continue.  
"Well, I would probably be the Celestial Spirit magic, using the Stellar Keys to beat my opponents! After all, I do have my own pair of Stellar Keys. Even though people wouldn't consider me very strong at fist, since I'm using second hand power, I would eventually be able to use all the Celestial Spirits at once and even fight using my kick ass moves and whip!" she beamed excitedly. Everyone noticed when Loke suddenly stood up and went as far away as possible from Lucy, when just seconds ago he had been trying to date her. They all raised their eyebrows at his strange behaviour before returning their attention back to the question.

"And what about you, Natsu?" asked Erza sincerely.  
"I would be a Fire Dragon Slayer!" He boomed excitedly. The whole group nodded at the same time, thinking that it was a very fitting power for his fiery personality. Someone banged their iron gloved hand on his head, making him reel in pain while touching the top of his head.  
"What the hell was that for!?" He questioned, surprised by the sudden attack.  
"You, a Dragon Slayer? Dream on! I would be the Iron Dragon Slayer," he said confidently. A girl behind him giggled, and the group waved at Levi, who had her arm wrapped around Gajeel's.  
"What about you Levi-chan?" asked Lucy, glad she could see her close friend again after she had been M.I.A.  
"Mmm... Probably Solid Script. It uses words, which is perfect for me because I love reading. It's a type of Letter magic, so whatever I write can be thrown around and affect my enemies," she said with a hint of a smile on her face. Everyone agreed with her, especially Lucy. The lesson ended and the day continued with people embarrassing themselves and talking while causing trouble.

After the day was almost finished, Erza had wanted to ask Gray something. Him being in the furthest part of the classroom, she decided to use the most trusty message supplier - the Note. The Note was something that every school had a variation of. However, in Fairy Tail it was a lot more complicated. The teachers were very attentive, so the Note had to be sneakily passed on with caution, making sure that only people who could be trusted would hand the Note over to the designated person. It was risky but urgent. Erza quickly wrote what she wanted, altering her handwriting so that if the teacher saw it, they wouldn't suspect it was her. She passed it to Natsu while signalling for him to pass it on quietly, Gray's name at the top of the Note. Natsu nodded once, getting the message right away. He passed it on to Lucy, who passed it to Alzack and motioned for him to pass it on to Gajeel. Misunderstanding, he passed it to Loke, who was right in front of him. Erza's heart stopped beating for a second. Erza knew that he was definitely not someone she would learn to trust easily, but could he actually be trusted? Before thinking twice about her plan, she gave him the most vicious and demanding glare. He looked at her with fear before quickly passing it on to Gray. Gray opened the Note, scrunched it up and threw it in the bin before getting up. Everyone stared at him, confused as to why he was suddenly on his feet, even though the teacher hadn't even finished his lecture. He walked up to Erza, who was at the back of the class, before grabbing her wrist and taking her away from the class. Erza tried to shout at everyone in the class that she had no clue what he was doing, especially the teacher, but it was too late.

"What the hell are you doing Gray?!" she said while lightly punching him. He just gave her a crooked smile before leading her to the Student Council room, hoping that no one would be in there. To his luck, it was completely empty. He sat at the head of the table while crossing his legs, his shirt unbuttoned again. "Gray, your shirt!" Erza said while hitting him on the head.  
"Ow! Why are you so violent Scarlet!?" At his new nickname for her, she started blushing. She sat down on the chair nearest to him, waiting for him to explain why he had dragged her all the way to the SC room.  
"Well?" he asked.  
"Well what?" she asked, confused.  
"Erza, you were the one who brought me here! What did you want to ask?" Gray muttered exasperated. Erza's mind went blank. She had no clue why she had wanted to speak to him before. As she tapped the table to think of an answer, she heard his mutter,

**/watch?v=euuA5lcaWng (Voodoo Doll) One of my fav bands, 5SOS :D**

"I don't even like you,  
Why'd you have to go and make me feel this way?  
And I don't understand what's up,  
And I keep saying things I never say,

Cause I can feel you watching even when you know where to be seen,  
And I can feel you touching even if you're far away from me...

Tell me where you're hiding your Voodoo Doll,  
Cause I can't control myself,  
Woohoohoo,  
I don't understand,  
Wanna run away,  
But I'm trapped under your spell,  
And it hurts in my head,  
In my heart,  
In my chest,  
And I'm having trouble catching my breath,  
Uhhh, uhhh,  
Won't you please stop loving me to death..."

Gray had sang that song because it reminded him of how Juvia had used to treat him. It sounded laughable now, but she had stalked and cyber-stalked him and he had seen her with a voodoo doll before. The song, contrary to him, talked about how the guy actually kinda loved the girl. In his situation, it wasn't going to happen. After all, he already had another muse, who was currently staring intently at him.

"What?" he asked, trying to figure her out again like a jigsaw.  
"Do you only sing to me?" she asked. Gray stayed silent for a few moments, humming the song Voodoo doll as he thought about her question.  
"Yeah... I haven't sang to anyone other than Ul, Lyon and Cana in the past when I was very young. I only recently started singing again, and that's been to only you." Gray finished. Glad for her hair length, Erza used her hair to cover the big smile on her face. It was a bit selfish to think that he only sang for her, but it made her happy. Wanting to ease her conscience by seeming less selfish, she asked another question.  
"But don't you feel sad just singing to me? You have the best voice I've heard, ever!" Gray laughed loudly at her compliment, surprised she would go so far to praise him. Usually, he would have expected her to say it was a loud screeching sound, but she always did the exact opposite of what he expected.  
"I don't need to sing in public to share my voice. Stand up and stand here for a moment," ordered Gray. Erza pushed her chair back and obediently stood next to his seat.  
"What exactly are you..." was all she could say before she felt herself being pulled downwards. Without warning, she was suddenly sat on Gray's lap. As soon as the realisation hit her, she tried to stand back up again, her face the same colour as her hair. He had her pinned down, so there was no escape. Erza knew too well that at the proximity they were at that if she tried to do something, he would easily sexually assault her with no remorse. She sat on his lap, hoping he would release her before she exploded from embarrassment and social anxiety.

"You may think my voice is for anyone,  
but I dedicate it only to you,  
Breaking my heart into twenty one,  
Why do you have to make my mood blue,  
I only need to sing for one person,  
the one who deserves it in my eyes,  
It would only worsen,  
If I sang to those flies,  
Because my voice only belongs to you"  
**(This was a waste of 5 minutes of my time -.- I don't even like it but meh, it will improve ;) Steal it if you want, it's not good at all xD)**

Gray sang in Erza's ear quietly, like a secret. Through the whole song, Erza had closed her eyes, letting her mind wander with the lyrics. It was a slow song, but it was still amazing in her eyes. Everything that came out of his mouth was pure gold to listen to, even though she would only admit that about his singing voice. Erza relaxed on his lap, glad that her selfish desire to keep his voice to themselves was mutual, like a little secret.

The door slammed opened, making Erza jump on Gray's lap, still sitting on him. A certain Bluenette casually walked in, not even listening to Erza stuttering an explanation of whatever was going on.  
"Gray-sama, Juvia wants to know where Lyon is," she said calmly.  
"He's still at the hospital Juvia, How've you been?" he asked casually.  
"Good thank you Gray-sama, thank you for the info," she said before going out of the room in a rush with a worried face. No one had told her that Lyon was in a hospital!

"You could have explained!" Erza said, her embarrassment levels at their peak. He stared at her, questioning what she was talking about. She pointedly looked at the position they were in, but he just shook his head, a crooked smile forming.  
"You know I'm keeping you like this for at least an hour?" he asked.  
"NO! GRAY LET GO OF ME RIGHT NOW OR I WILL GET HOT SAUCE AND PUT IT IN YOUR GRAVE AFTER YOU DIE FROM ME BEATING YOU UP AND SAYING THAT IT WAS SELF DEFENSE FROM YOUR RAPE ATTEMPT!" Losing all control, she yelled. Even though Gray resisted laughing, he slowly let go of the Scarlet haired maiden's waist and allowed her to stand up. Without looking back, she stomped away from him to her car. He followed behind at a much slower pace, heading for his car. He had too much fun today anyway, it was probably too much for Erza. After all, he had plenty more years to torment her. Let the Tormenting Games begin! **(He's such a sadist -.-)**

* * *

**Juvia's House 6:50 PM**

Even though Juvia had wanted to rush straight to the hospital, she had first wanted to make sure that all her preparations would go well. She arrived home, newly determined, before putting on an apron. It was made of velvet and she loved it because it reminded her that one day she could cook for her beloved husband and children. Just the prospect of a secure family life made her all starry eyed and hopeful for the future, even if the present seemed to work against her.

She began cutting up all the vegetables, hoping that he wouldn't hate any of them. Then, she started cutting the fish, cooking the rice and making the sauce. The sushi was done, so it was time for the dessert. She chose to do pancakes and a caramel-almond ice cream torte. She had practiced making all these recipes countless of times before, so she knew that it would be perfect. Lastly, she went to her bedroom and looked inside her fridge, glad that her creation had worked.

Now, it was time to wrap it all up. She chose a light blue cloth with tiger faces, hoping that Lyon would like it. Then, she needed to choose clothes. What could she wear? It would probably rain, so she chose a light blue shirt with a pair of high waisted black shorts with warm navy leggings. Perfect. She was finally ready, her makeup already brushed up. She drove to the hospital with no rush, nerves getting the better of her. Did she look okay? Was she being too forward? What if he didn't like anything that she had cooked?

She had arrived at the hospital, and she had started hyperventilating. She didn't need a panic attack, not now! Nobody in Juvia's family knew why Juvia had such frequent panic attacks, and she would probably never reveal it to anyone. The memories were repressed, but they still came from time to time, reminding her of certain events. Only Ultear had helped her through those times... She slapped herself, hoping that the panic would go away. It didn't, it only worsened. She could feel herself breathing heavily as she started losing her breath, her heart beating at a slower rate. Thunder and lightning formed outside, showing her inner turmoil. The rain pattered on her car, a calming sound to her ears. The panic had started to seep away, but it had returned just as suddenly.

This time, the rain was only making it worse, making her remember how it had happened on a rainy day like this. It had seemed like the worst day of her life. She had lost all hope, and now she was losing hope again. Could anyone save her? No. She had to fight it. She grabbed the steering wheel tightly, her knuckles going white. Her vision went blurry yet again and she fainted, her head landed on the seat next to her.

She woke up dehydrated and stiff, her neck hurting her from the angle she had fainted on. She stretched her arms and cracked her neck, looking outside. "Shoot!" she screamed. Two whole hours had passed! She grabbed the food and everything she needed with her before rushing inside, hoping that they would allow late night visits. Luckily for her, that day visits could go on until midnight. She walked to Lyon and when she saw him, his face slightly bruised, her heart stopped. Even though he may have looked horrible and beaten pretty badly to anyone else, Juvia found him gorgeous - the most perfect person in the entire world.

"Hi," she said feebly. He turned his head slowly before smiling at her. She walked up to him before placing all the different types of food she had cooked on his lap.  
"I made these for you..." she said, her voice still barely above a whisper. He nodded before moving his hand to try and reach for the food. That simple action seemed to hurt too much, so Juvia took the initiative to hold the fork and feed him. They giggled a few times at how bad her aim was and she wiped his mouth with her handkerchief. After he had finished eating, they had sat in silence for a few seconds. Sitting on the uncomfortable hospital chair, she stared at just how badly wounded he really was as he sat on the bed. She didn't know when, but tears started cascading down her cheek.

"Juvia are you...?" Lyon asked, his face and voice showing surprise.  
"I have a present for you!" she said delightedly, hoping it would divert the attention away from her tears. She took it out of her pocket, hoping that he would like it. He took the box and opened the lid with ease. He gaped in shock at what was inside. He took it in his hands, admiring the small ice dagger on the necklace.  
"Did you make this Juvia? This is.. Amazing..." he whispered gradually. Juvia nodded.  
"I made this using the water that my family produces from our house. It is passed down every generation, and there is this stalactite inside my house, and every ten years it drops water droplets. I've been saving my water droplets and I thought it would be time to use it! I made it into a necklace using a mould, and it will never melt because the water is so special that once it is frozen, it cannot melt! By the way, keep this a secret as it's my family's only secret," she said while winking at him.

After nodding at her explanation, he whispered, "Thank you," before kissing the necklace. That simple action made Juvia's heart skip a beat. Juvia knew that speaking in third person wasn't normal, but it was normal for her. She had done it ever since she had no friends, and she had continued on with her habit. However, when she was near Lyon, she never spoke in third person. Why did he affect her differently from anyone else?

Lyon then placed his hand gently on Juvia's. Externally, Juvia just smiled at him, glad to be feeling his feelings of appreciation. Internally, it was a whole other matter. Her stomach did the flippy over thing **(AmazingPhil quote ;p) **and her heart race increased by a billion times. She didn't know if she could take it anymore. After realising that she had been chasing the wrong man, she had hurt the one who she actually had something for. Seeing him with another girl had made her insanely jealous, and now he was here with her, casually holding her hand. It took all of her will power to not confess to him there and then. She vowed to herself that she would only do that only if he could fully trust her again. It wasn't about her, it was about him and only him. She wouldn't stalk him or obsess over him, but be a kind and understanding friend, because she could at least be there for him in times of need.

* * *

**Hibiki's Apartment 9:10 PM**

"Whohoo, we're getting married!" Cana screamed, excitement coursing through her as she kissed Hibiki forcefully. After gasping from that intense kiss, they continued writing the wedding invitations. It had been a complete surprise when Gildarts had chosen to support their marriage, and now there was no time for celebrating.

Everything had been a bit unbalanced with all the different mood swings and certain events. Therefore, they had never just sat down together to plan the whole thing **(unprepared much -.-). **They had only a couple of weeks before the wedding (as the baby bump would probably show) and Cana wanted to fit in a dress and not look like a hippopotamus bride. Invitations were first on the agenda, and as they didn't have a large budget for the wedding, they made them by hand by using paint and then just wrote the date of the wedding and asked if they were coming and how many people they would bring. The wedding ceremony would be pretty small, only inviting close friends. The after party would be everyone they knew, even the most random people.

Cana had wanted to do it all herself so Hibiki could book all the places, but the baby had started kicking, causing her to pause at random intervals. Hibiki had rushed to help, saying that he would do it all later. In reality, she knew that he would probably leave it until the last minute, but it still made her smile that he would help her out so much for the wedding.

For no apparent reason, an idea had formulated in her head. Writing invitations was just way too boring! She needed to spice things up a bit in their lives, and she had the perfect plan. She made some excuse about needing the toilet before rushing to Hibiki's room and grabbing her cell phone. The plan was finally complete and she laughed a small, evil laugh.

_Erza. Erza the Titania Scarlet. __Wonder if she remembers that she still owes me? After all, I did take her out of prison. And I could also send her that nice little present that Gray sent me soon afterwards. But what can I ask her to do? I know! She has to accept... I'm so evil at times..._

Cana quickly sent the video of Gray singing Good to You to Erza while she had slept, also sending the part where he had kissed her. Then, she immediately got a call from Erza.  
"Herro?"  
"When did you get it? How long ago was it from?" Erza asked, her words like rapid fire.  
"Woah, calm down Erza! I have a little favour to ask you. Or should I say, a little Dare..."  
"Why should I do what you say?" asked Erza, inpatient.  
"Because I can give you that video and delete it from my phone, and I can also tell the whole school that you were in jail. Well, that would ruin your whole reputation, wouldn't it?" Cana said in a sing-song voice. Erza just grumbled, knowing that there was no way out of it. She badly wanted to replay that video that Cana had given her and she didn't want anyone else to have it.  
"Fine," she whispered, defeated.  
"Well, my sweet little Erza, I Dare you to throw a house party and play Truth or Dare!"  
"I've never done a house party before!" screamed Erza on the other side of the phone in a panic.  
"Don't worry, your fairy god mother Cana will be there to guide you. Just prepare food and drinks and contact everyone you know. Bye!" She cut off the line before the Scarlet haired girl could protest.

Tonight was going to be fun...

* * *

**Erza's Mansion - Midnight**

Erza had finally finished with all the preparations, making sure there was enough food, drinks and anything else. She had also made sure to contact everyone she knew, including the new students. Maybe they were more experienced at events like this? She could only hope that it wouldn't be a major disaster and that everyone would at least have some sort of fun. She had decided to use the largest room: her spare bedroom. Luckily, there was no school tomorrow, so everyone wouldn't suffer from sleep deprivation.

The guests all arrived on time, some wearing casual outfits while others dressing super fancy to try and impress Erza **(and tbh, we can all guess who the slobs are -.-...{Gray}).**They all sat in a circle in the large bedroom so everyone could have a turn. Everyone knew that they would be playing Truth or Dare, so they all came with their wits about them, hoping they wouldn't be asked to do something too embarrassing or be asked to confess something private.

**This is the order of the circle, clockwise **(Gray, Natsu, Lucy, Cana, Erza, Hibiki, Juvia, Carla, Happy, Pantherlily, Levi, Elfman, Loke, Alzack, Bisca)

"What do I do? What do I do Cana, please tell me?" she whispered hurriedly to Cana, hoping that her friend would tell her what to do.  
"Don't stress out! It's fine, just follow my lead," she said before dramatically standing up.

"Welcome guys to Erza's Truth or Dare party! Since it's midnight and we don't really have much time before we all have to do stuff, this is a quick fire round. One person gets Truth, the together gets Dare until we complete the cycle. And yes, if you are wondering, the cats are staying. Not only will humans be subjected to embarrassment, but the cats will also have to tell us their deepest secrets or do a daring Dare. Let us begin! The timer starts now, two hours, no chickening out.  
Hello my friend Gray," she said in a mischievous voice.  
"Don't you even Dare start Cana or I will.."  
"That's a Dare then Gray." She smiled sweetly while batting her eyelashes. He groaned, pissed that he had been set up like this. When he had seen Erza's message, he had thought that they would be playing alone together, which would have lead to certain events happening. But no. Instead, he had to humiliate himself in front of people who he knew would never let him live it down.

"Gray, I dare you to play gay chicken with Natsu! And Natsu, it's technically your Dare too, so you don't have to do another dare," said Cana with a loud voice. Natsu was about to protest, but one glare from Erza silenced him. The reason why she had glared at him was because she finally wanted Gray to taste how awkward and scary it felt being with him, and it would be hilarious to see them kiss. The two boys were forced to sit in the middle of the circle so everyone could see. **(For all of you who have no clue what this game is, I had no clue either until yesterday :D It's basically two people of the same gender have to get closer and closer while pretending to kiss until the first one to pull away loses, making them the chicken. If they kiss, the first one to pull away still loses ;) Hope that helped x3) **Gray didn't know what to do. He definitely did not want to kiss his worst enemy, but he didn't want to lose the Dare either, that would be a disgrace! Maybe, if he had a plan of action, he could win. His quick thinking made him think of a plan, and he just hoped it would work.

They both gulped before leaning in closer and closer, both their eyes open. Using his plan, Gray put one hand on Natsu's cheek while the other was placed stealthily on his thigh. Natsu instantly flinched away, making Gray the victor. He laughed at the Salmon haired boy.  
"That's not fair! He indecently touched me!" yelled Natsu, appalled that Gray would go that far to win the game. Cana just ignored him, moving on to the next person. "Erza, take over for now," Cana whispered, hoping that Erza would have gotten the hang of the game. Still chuckling, Erza said, "Lucy, it's your turn. I guess it's a Truth, right?" Lucy nodded, scared of what she was going to be asked.  
"Would anyone like to ask Lucy a question? Once you ask a question you won't be able to ask anyone else," Erza said, getting the hang of the game. Cana's hand shot up right away, hoping that she could ask her question. Erza nodded at her to give her consent and she asked,  
"Have you two had sex yet?"

The whole room went silent, and someone even spilled their drink. Lucy was blushing really hard, her face completely red.  
"N..N..No! We haven't done anything like that!" Lucy said while looking at Natsu, who was also slightly red.  
"So have you done anything that could be considered inappropriate, like sleeping in the same bed?" Cana ventured, wanting to find out the details, as she didn't completely believe in Lucy's response. Before Lucy could answer, Erza silenced her and said, "One question Cana, no more."  
"But!"  
"No! I make the rules, it's my party Cana, remember?" Erza replied back. Cana sat back down while pouting, sad that she didn't have unlimited power anymore. She brightened up as she remembered that she could get revenge in the next round.  
"Cana... I Dare you to call the pizza guy and ask if it's 999," said Erza, unsure. The people in the circle giggled at the prospect of what was about to happen, Cana sighing but secretly glad that she hadn't chosen something too hard. One of the rules of the game was that they couldn't go outside, so it would have to do to be humiliated in front of everyone.

The phone rang for a few seconds before the pizza person said "Hello?"  
"Hello, is this 999?" Cana asked, faking a confused voice.  
"Erm...No. This isn't the police.."  
"But I called the police! Argghhh!" She pretended being in terrible pain.  
"My husband is a serial killer, and he's trying to kill me! I'm hiding in the cupboard, and this was my emergency dial. Oh stupid me, why do I love pizza so much!?"  
"Madam, are you okay?" asked the concerned pizza man.  
"Do I sound okay? I was just stabbed by my psycho husband and he's trying to kill me, and now I'm using his bloody phone to call the fucking pizzeria even though all I want is to run away from this demonic house!" Cana started fake hyperventilating.  
"Madam, tell us your address!" asked the concerned man. Cana signalled at Hibiki to come closer. He coughed before saying in a deep voice,  
"Found you wifey," and she screamed before cutting off the line. Everyone had burst into laughter at how something that could have been so dull had been an Oscar winning performance. That pizza man would be very confused and traumatised.

"Now it's your turn Erza, a Truth." Cana said with a glint in her eye. Erza raised her eyebrows, wondering what the Brunette was up to.  
"Erza-chan, has anyone seen you naked here or barely clothed who is in this circle. If so, would you mind to tell us who?" Cana had said loud enough so that everyone would be interested. Erza sat still while looking calmly at everyone, but she was going through a wave of emotions inside her. Should she tell them? Was she looking suspicious by stalling? Would they care? Would they hold it against her? She thought of an even better idea.  
"Actually yes. Me, Juvia and Lucy went to a sauna during the SC vacation after the race. We all had towels by the way, you perverted people." Cana frowned at Erza's answer. She knew for a fact that she wasn't lying, but she could have been more entertaining and said Gray!

"Fine, who's next?" Cana said, her voice less lively than before. This made Erza chuckle because her plan had worked.  
"Hibiki and Juvia," said Erza while smiling at Cana. In that moment, they were like twin sisters because they had the exact same plan.  
"So my husband Hibiki and Juvia, your Dare is for you both to put ice cubes in your underwear and then swap your underwear!" screamed Cana. Everyone, especially Hibiki and Juvia, looked at her in horror. Erza and Cana secretly high fived behind each other's backs. Gray got up and got a dozen ice cubes, and Juvia and Hibiki put six each in their underwear. They flailed around for five minutes crying and screaming and cursing all at the same time, hoping for the torture to stop. After the ice had fully melted, they both went to the bathroom next door and switched underwear. To Hibiki's dismay, Juvia had decided to wear a G- string. He put it on and it was the most uncomfortable thing he had ever worn in his life. Hibiki had actually chosen to not wear any underwear, so now Juvia was in her wet shorts squirming, knowing she would be uncomfortable all night until she could go home.

"Truth for our cats! It's Truth for these three. Now, what should I ask?" wondered Erza out loud.  
"How about something like, who do you have a crush on? Sit next to them!" Cana offered.  
"That's perfect!" Erza said with enthusiasm before turning to the cats, hoping they had understood the question. They did, and Carla stood still, her face stoic and cold. Instead, Happy slowly and shyly walked over to Carla, always meowing something as he was about to retreat. Pantherlily sat on Levi's lap, nuzzling his face on her leg as she stroked him.  
"Happy, since when!?" asked Natsu, shocked that his best friend had a romantic interest.  
"I'm so happy for you Carla," whispered Erza, which made her cat turn away from her in disgust. Pantherlily had obviously chosen Levi because Gajeel couldn't make it, as urgent family matters had detained him. That had made Levi sad, but Gajeel had told her to take Pantherlily to let her be reminded of him. She had kept him close all night, and she wasn't prepared to let him go.

"It's your turn Levi! And guess what? It's a Dare!" said Cana in a lively voice.  
"I Dare you to... call Gajeel," at this Levi smiled, but that wasn't the end of it, "and tell him you're pregnant!" Everyone once again stared at Cana in shock. How could she be so cruel to them? Erza gave a small smile at Cana, her partner in crime, before throwing her phone kindly at Levi. Levi typed in the numbers she knew by heart so well before hesitating. He was already stressed, and she didn't want to add to the stress load... Seeing that everyone was staring at her, she plucked up the courage to speak.

"Hey Gajeel!"  
"Hey babe, what's up? Sorry, I'm a bit busy, so I'll put it on..."  
"I'm pregnant..." Levi said silently.  
"What!?" she heard a whole chorus of people in the background. _Wait... Did he actually put it on loud speaker?!_

She ended the phone call, hoping that no one would tell her that she had to continue. His whole family had probably been at that important conference! Cana had covered her mouth, for the first time showing that she was actually shocked. She whispered to Levy that she could go (with Pantherlily) to talk to Gajeel as they continued the game. She gratefully thanked them before leaving with the cat.

"And now, it's Elfman with a Truth. Welcome back Elfman!" Erza warmly greeted him. He smiled at her before saying,  
"As a man, I had to come back!"  
"Good! Now, your Truth is, if you only had twenty four hours to live, what would you do?" asked Erza, wanting to go easy on him as he had been home schooled for years.  
"Well, as a man, I would of course take care of my family and make sure that I have completed my will before trying to fight all the robbers and thieves and criminals until they are all gone!" While the girls shook their heads and giggled slightly, impressed that people still wanted to act like superheroes and think it would all be fine and dandy, the boys nodded their heads with their eyes closed in approval.

"Next, a lovely Dare for the lovely Loke. Actually, I want Bisca and Alzack to have the Dare, so the lovely Loke will have the lovely Truth. How many girls have you slept with?" Cana questioned. Loke spluttered his drink, surprised that Cana would really ask about his sex life. In all truth, he had never gone anywhere other than first base, but that would completely ruin his reputation! He needed to be known as a playboy, so he changed the question in his head to, "How many girls have you flirted with," while crossing his hand behind his back.  
"About... two hundred and fifty eight," he said without his voice wavering once. Everyone stared at him, surprised that he was such a playboy. Gray had been a pretty infamous playboy, but this guy was clearly a man whore for going with so many girls. They all stayed silent, but Loke took it as silent appreciation, marvelling at his success.

"And last, but certainly not least. I Dare Alzack and Bisca to kiss in the closet!" Cana said happily. Most of the people around the circle stared at her as if she had truly gone insane.  
"What?" she asked , confused by most of their stares.  
"Babe, they are brother and sister," Hibiki said slowly, hoping she would understand the fault in her plan **(that's what TFIOS should have been called xD Nope, never mind x3).****  
**"Babe, do you actually realise that they aren't related, right? Bisca is clearly adopted..." Cana said, earning a nod from the only other person who had figured it out (Erza). Everyone looked at the two for confirmation, and they both nodded. That was why they always looked lovey dovey in class, even though they had tried acting casual!  
"Go on then, my children. Go in the closet for five minutes while we are going to finish all this food and go home!" Cana said.

While the others did as Cana said, Alzack and Bisca slowly walked in the closet.  
"You know, we don't have to do this Bisc..." He was interrupted by lips meeting his. That was the first kiss for both Alzack and Bisca, and it had been short but sweet. Red in the face, Bisca had rushed out of there, driving home. Alzack had followed suit, hoping he could catch up to her and figure out what that kiss was about. _Is it only just the game? _He thought to himself. It had felt like a lot more than a stupid game to him... And secretly to her too...

The house was finally peaceful, and classified events happened before they eventually exited. It had been a very good day.

**Oh my gosh I'M SO TIRED! AND HUNGRY! I sat here since yesterday night and this early afternoon (1 p.m.) and I only managed to finish it at 01:41 AM the next day xD My fingers hurt and my eye sight is blurry, so I'm sorry for any errors. I will check, but oh my goodness this took so much out of me xD I finished re-reading it at 02:50, and I only read it once O-O... Hope you enjoyed this my adorable little chibis and have an amazing day/night, you guys make the world amazing :p \\( * ^ - ^* )/**

**Roxanne~**


	31. Testing

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Hey guys, how are you? ;D Having a one way conversation here... Anyway, sorry for the late chapter xD I was just reading this really long manga and one hour became two, two became three until I read it for about seven hours xD. Yes, I have no social life, deal with it :P! I'm a bit sick, but that's not important :). Keep smiling and I hope you enjoy this (hopefully) funny chapter xD. And since I don't want it to be so long that I'm bleeding, I'm just doing Gray and Erza's POV ;). If you want, please PM me, I'm free pretty much every day xD. Enjoy ;)**

**Chapter XXXI: Testing Till the End**

**Fairy Tail 10 AM**

"Principle Makarov!" demanded Aquarius impatiently.  
"Principle Makarov!" she repeated again, hoping that he would open the doors. The large oak doors opened, showing a short old man drinking a beer. As soon as he saw Aquarius, he quickly hid it away out of sight.  
"What is it Aquarius?" he asked a bit groggily.  
"The Council, they are angry again. Since the Academic year was abruptly interrupted for all three schools since the union, the Council has not seen any exams from us these past few months. They said we need to do an exam today or all the students will be kicked out!" Makarov sat up, instantly sober.  
"But it's a Saturday! And they didn't even get a chance to prepare!" exclaimed Makarov, outraged that his 'children' were being treated unfairly.  
"There's nothing we can do about it Principle Makarov. We just have to call every single student... Because of all the exams they have failed to do, we have to set up three exams." Said Aquarius with a frown, showing that she actually did care for her students. Makarov sighed, his wrinkles becoming deeper. There was only one other thing he could do to make the Council pleased..

He started preparing all the test papers and printing them out. He really felt sorry for all his students, so he would make the most important exam (the written one) contain all the subjects and the other two to be something that the students would probably enjoy.  
"Aquarius! Send emails, text messages, tweets, anything that you can to inform all of our students that they have an important exam and should do as much revision as possible, because the exam is in exactly two hours!" He said, which earned him a firm nod from Aquarius before she started doing as she was ordered.

Their tasks finally finished, they both sat in silence. It had been a long hour and the students would probably hate school for a while. It would be deemed understandable, but Makarov only wanted the best for his students. Next time the Council tried to do anything, he would fight back. The two other arenas had been set up by the engineers as they had been printing, texting, typing, et cetera.

* * *

**Erza's Mansion 11:10 AM**

Erza woke up with a start on her bed, her senses alerted. She had heard a small ringing, which had been all she had needed to get up. Usually, she wore her contacts but today she just didn't feel like it. For some reason, her clothes were on the floor, so she was just wearing a bra and her panties. She was about to get up from her bed when she felt something stirring next to her. Panicked, she removed the bed sheet to see a mop of Raven hair...

_No...__  
__No...__  
__What the hell is GRAY DOING ON MY BED HALF NAKED?_

She saw the Raven haired boy in question shiver a bit before grabbing the bed sheet. When he couldn't feel it anywhere around him, he groaned. Erza absolutely couldn't move, because her legs were slightly tangled with his. _WHAT HAPPENED? _He tried uselessly reaching for it again, but he finally gave up and opened his eyes. He didn't seem to notice the Scarlet haired maiden as he sat up and stretched his arms, producing a huge yawn from him. As his arms went back down, he felt that he was touching something very warm. He turned around to see Erza and he froze.

Neither having any recollection of the night before, only remembering that they had a Truth or Dare party, Gray couldn't remember once drinking, not even water! Erza started cupping her hands over her face as she muttered incoherent words. Why were they both only in their underwear?!  
Before she could think further on what the hell had happened, Erza started her previous intention of getting up and picking up her phone. Gray's clothes were on the opposite side of Erza's bedroom, so he went over and started wearing his trousers. He felt constant vibrations, so he picked up his phone from his trouser pockets. _What does the school want now, can't I have a fucking break?_

They both saw that the school had emailed them an urgent message that there was going to be a test, and it was in less than 45 minutes! Erza knew that the school would not care if they wore their school uniform, especially as it was a Saturday! She could ask Gray to drive so she could revise, but she had no clue what may have happened between them last night. _Could we have?..._

She snapped out of her thoughts really quickly, knowing that it was pointless to think of something that had happened in the past when she had a surprise exam. Gray was already dressed, but Erza felt bad that he had to wear the same clothes as yesterday. She yelled, "Wait!" before she ran out of the room at full speed to her parents' bedroom. She mumbled for them to forgive her before she opened the door. She hadn't been in their room in a couple of years, but it still looked as immaculate as ever. She made her way to her father's closet, hoping he would have left some clothes. Erza's dad was a bit taller than Gray, but they were very similar in size. As her mother and father's closets were both very close to each other, Erza went to her mother's first. What she didn't expect was the kinky underwear and lingerie. Erza stared, amazed how many revealing clothes her mother had. She had never seen any clothes like this before! There were even _cosplay costumes?_

Erza gulped before finding something a lot more decent, a pair of skinny jeans with a fluffy crop top and a pair of black sneakers. She shut the closet, too scared to know what her mum did in her spare time before going to her father's closet. What she didn't expect was to also find some cosplay costumes and was that _hand cuffs? _She covered her eyes before picking out a pair of dark blue trousers and a white shirt whit a skull on it. She slammed the closet shut before sprinting back to Gray. She faced away from him as she held out the clothes. He mumbled his thanks before taking it, trying to avoid physical contact. Instead, he managed to lightly brush her fingers, which inevitably made her drop the clothes on the floor. He picked them up before changing in the en suite bathroom.

Erza produced a small squeal, embarrassed by the way she was acting. Before she could be left to ponder on why she was acting so childish, Gray grabbed her wrist and they ran to his car. Still not looking at each other, he said, "I'll drive."  
They drove in silence, not even daring to start playing music. Even though they should have probably been studying, their minds were more preoccupied with what happened last night. Why could they not remember how they ended up in Erza's room undressed? Had something happened between them?

Gray continuously cursed himself, angry at himself for not knowing _exactly what I did yesterday!_ He had accepted his feelings a long time ago, but had he really done anything that might hint at what he truly felt. It was frustrating not knowing what he had done because he didn't know how to apologise. And what if it wasn't even his own fault? What if it had been Erza's fault? Or even Cana's? He needed to ask her because he knew that while she had bonded with Erza, she was still _aggravating as fuck and would do anything to ruin me..._

Erza opened her book, not really looking at it at all. She had already memorised every textbook she had as she knew that there had been a lack of exams. Studying came easy to her until it was boring. She didn't have anything else to study, finding revision tiring and unnecessary, so she began drifting into thoughts of what happened. She closed her eyes, trying to remember. _Anything..._

_"Gray, we can't do this!" I giggled._

Erza abruptly opened her eyes. Even though she had not even remembered a single image, she could clearly remember saying that to Gray. What else had she said? She tried closing her eyes and drifting again, hoping that the events of yesterday would be clearer, but it was too late. The car stopped and they were in Fairy Tail. All the students were lined up in Rank order, most revising like crazy and others just chilling.

"Great party yesterday Erza!" yelled Lucy while waving at them, near the front of her queue. Erza went up to her and Gray drifted a few metres apart. The two best friends hugged each other, glad that in a world full of baboons they could still be sane. Unlike everyone else, all the SC members were not studying.  
"I wonder what tests we have to do?" asked Lucy while looking at the clear sky.  
"It's probably a big test that will take five hours on all the subjects and two other things. I don't know what they are, but apparently we don't have to do one of the two other tests because of the Student Council race!" said Erza proudly. Lucy and her high fived, glad that they didn't have to go through as much torture as the other students.

The school gates finally opened and they all went into the various classrooms on the conjoined campuses, meaning that for the major test, all six members of the Student Council would be separated. This meant that Erza could focus on her test and not think about Gray, who could have been only a few metres away from her. They both really needed answers, but no one was giving them any.

"Welcome students to your test. Because of the construction work, we have not done any exams. Do not worry, these will seem important, but we will not hold it against you if you don't do so well. We are really sorry and we hope you all do your best. As you know, there will be three exams. One will be this written test for five hours, including every subject that you are studying. When you finish it, you can earn extra marks by doing a second optional test. After that, you have to go to the blue arena, which is where you will fight against a mob of robots. It goes in level, level one being the easiest and level fifty being the hardest. For this exam, you can use any weapon you want, you just have to request it before you enter the arena using the voice recognition on the door to the arena. Moreover, the Student Council do not have to do this test as they have already showed us just how powerful individually and as a group they are. The last and final test is the mental exam. We will be delving into your biggest fears, so be prepared. This will probably the exam that will break most of you, but we just hope that you can fight through it. Good luck my Fairies. Makarov out," finished the old man solemnly.

Another voice, this time female, spoke, "The test begins... now!" Said the unusually calm voice of Aquarius. The students all flipped their test papers and began the test.

...

5 hours later, the written test was finally over and done with. The Phantom Lord, St Hope and Fairy Tail students either stayed silent, congratulated each other or cried at how easy/hard the test was. Only seven students had managed to do the optional test in those five hours and even managed to complete it: Erza, Natsu, Lucy, Gajeel, Levi, Juvia and (surprisingly) Gray. After all, they were the smartest seven in the whole school.

All mentally exhausted, the SC members rushed to the second arena, while everyone else went to the first arena. The arena to test their mental capacity was purple and shined with neon lights. Natsu and Lucy quickly kissed before entering. While the other arena had several rooms that allowed people to battle individually, the purple arena was possibly three times larger. Inside, there were about a million rooms which had a mind simulator. **If you have watched Alex Rider (I think Storm breaker x3) it looks like that machine that he has to test out. I have no clue how to describe it and I can't find any pictures of it :(. Just think they the characters have a silver circular crown with no pointy things on their heads while sitting in a metallic seat that moves and having two circular spirals criss crossing each other and they can turn, the character also having a control pad... Yeah this is the worst explanation by far, I'm so sorry XD!**

They all took their sitting positions, calming themselves down. None of the fears that the Student Council had were good in any way. They couldn't be beaten physically, but definitely psychologically.

_Breathe... It's okay, you're fine. Just keep your mind closed and they won't know what your deepest fear is.. I can hear a whirring noise... are they scanning me. Oh gosh, I'm really scared. Why am I so scared of such a stupid test? I clearly got 100% in both those tests, this one should be easy for me! My eyes are closed and I can't open them. It's really dark. I don't even know if I'm supposed to do anything. Why am I in a supine position? The seat is probably malleable...__  
__What?...__  
__Why can I hear beeping?__  
__No... No.. No, please don't do this to me...__  
__My eyes are open now.. I can see a hospital room and so much machinery. No one's here.__  
__How did they know? I start sobbing, but it is only making me feel like I'm choking. I'm try to stop, but the tears just keep flowing..._

_I'm afraid to be alone. Pathetic, right?__  
__I feel like it's so hard to breathe... Why?__  
__I feel something on my nose and mouth... It's a gas mask. I remove it and suddenly, it's so much harder for me to breath. I try to take deep breaths, but the oxygen never feels like it's enough. I contemplate putting it back on, but I don't want to. I want to get away from here. I want to see someone familiar. My parents, even Gray!_

_I hear loud knocks coming from the door. Even though I'm desperate for company, I know from the way that my heart speeds up that it's not anyone I want to be with. Without thinking, I jump through the open window. I try to close it from behind me, but it only locks from the inside. I give up on it and start running, my feet meeting wet grass and then hard, cold concrete. My feet are starting to bleed, but I don't care.__  
__I just run.__  
__If I stop, I know I will die._

_I hear smashing glass a hundred meters behind me, and I quicken my pace. I cannot die, I will not die.__  
__Breathe... It's okay, you're fine.__  
__I can't breathe! I shout inside my head, even though I should be doing the exact opposite. My breathing is becoming laboured and I don't know if I can run anymore. I see cars passing, but they all ignore me.__  
__There's nothing I can do, so I keep on running.__  
__I am very aware that the person who is trying to kill me is somewhere behind me, but I won't stop.__  
__I can't stop...__  
__If I stop, I die._

_Leaves and shrubbery bites at my already open wounds, now my whole body is covered in scratches. Everything hurts and I only want to give up, but I don't want to die.__  
__I DON'T WANT TO DIE!__  
__My biggest fear is death.. Irrational and inevitable, I know.__  
__But death scares me, the prospect of becoming a rotten corpse and slowly going into oblivion until no one remembers your name. Not being able to fulfil all your hopes and dreams, because as humans we are so fragile.__  
__Anything can kill us.__  
__We can even kill each other._

_I'm on the floor, hiding behind a tree while gasping heavily. I don't think I can run anymore, it's too hard. I don't want to die, but I will die from either running too long or being brutally slaughtered. My legs are dumb, they won't be able to carry me..._

_I see a flash of dark hair, something getting closer to me. I cannot see the specific colour, but the next moment, I feel so much pain. I see blood and I'm being constantly kicked by someone. Tears trail on my cheeks, but I'm not sad.__  
__I'm numb.__  
__I feel the darkness engulfing me.__  
__There is no light.__  
__I see a pair of dark blue eyes and I feel a pair of blood soaked, cold hands hold me.__  
__Our faces go closer, and even under these horrible circumstances, my stomach flips and my eyes finally close.__  
__Our lips meet, but I don't feel it.__  
__I'm dead.._

"AHH!" Erza screams. As soon as she does, the simulation stops. She touches her cheeks to feel that she is actually crying. Then, she traces her hand on her lips, wishing she had got to know what it was like kissing _him. _She snaps out of her thoughts as a voice says,  
"Well done Erza, you did excellent!"

Erza gets out of the chair and stretches. _How was that excellent? I was so weak! _Instead of leaving, she decides to go to Gray's room, hoping to speak to him. Seeing the door locked, she knows that he is still in there. Everyone else had already left. She chose to sit on the door and wait for him...

**\\(*^-^*)/**

Gray sat on the machine, weirded out by this test. What would his worst fear be? He was about to find out. He closed his eyes and he felt himself being scanned.

_What the fuck? Why is Erza here in by bedroom?__  
__"Hello?" I try to say, but my voice isn't working. She looks so sad. I walk closer to her, but she starts shaking her head violently.__  
__"What?" I mouth, worried. I go closer, but she motions for me to stay back.__  
__I ignore her and go to hug her. As I hug her, I feel something warm and wet from behind her back. I look at my hands to see blood all over them.__  
__She's crying, but I can only stare at the blood on my hands.__  
__She pushes me away, screaming something.__  
__I want to hold her, but she keeps on shouting at me and pushing me away._

_I forcefully hold her in my hands, hoping she won't let go.__  
__I'm crying too, but I don't care.__  
__I CAN'T LOSE HER!__  
__I WILL NOT LOSE HER!__  
__I take off my shirt and wrap it around the area where she is bleeding. Only a few seconds later, it gets soaked._

_Why couldn't I protect her?!__  
__I bang my fist on the wall, which makes my knuckles bleed.__  
__The bleeding Titania holds my hand in hers and starts crying even more.__  
__What did I do to deserve this? Why was she going away?__  
__She mumbles something, and I catch it right away before a dark figure stabs her from behind and escapes through my window.__  
__I see her eyes go wide before she drops onto the floor, letting go of my knuckles...__  
__I know what she said to me..._

_"I love you Gray, remember this always,"_

_I run away from that stupid house, holding Erza. I know it's hopeless, but I want to save her if she has hope. I can feel her usually warm body temperature slowly grow colder.__  
__Panic grips my heart.__  
__She can't die!__  
__SHE WON'T DIE!__  
__I scream at the people in the crowded street, but they just ignore me or can't hear me._

_I run for hours, trying to find someone.__  
__It feels like hours...__  
__No one wants to help..__  
__I'm in an endless loop, and I can't escape the familiar streets...__  
__I can't go to the hospital, I can't save her.._

_I drop to the floor, exhausted.__  
__She is now cold, whether it's the weather or just her, I'm not fucking sure anymore.__  
__I'm not fucking sure about this bullshit.__  
__I lay her gently on the grown and I lie down too, facing her.__  
__I hold her cheek, and it's still warm.__  
__One thing I never got to do while she was alive...__  
__I lean closer, a tear falling from my face as my blood stained hands stain her cheek with a ghastly red._

_I don't feel our lips meet..._

_I'm sitting on Ul's lap.__  
__What is this, the past?__  
__I look up at her, and she is indeed much taller than me.__  
__She ruffles my hair, and I suddenly hug her. She looks surprised, but then she smiles at me.__  
__She tells me she's leaving, but I try to stop her.__  
__I know what's happening.__  
__It's that day.__  
__I try to stop her, but she says she has to go.__  
__I protest further, pulling at her skirt to stop her and she just holds me up before she opens the front door._

_No!__  
__NO!__  
__I CAN'T BE THERE, I WAS THE ONE WHO CAUSED THE DEATH!_

"Stop, enough! NO!" Gray screams, sweat all over the shirt Erza had gave him to borrow. He knows that he has tears in his eyes, but he quickly wipes them away, not caring too much. A voice says, "This was amazing Gray, fabulous work!"

Gray ignored the voice and just leaves the room. He pushes the door and he sees that Scarlet hair as she is in a heap on the floor. Gray genuinely smiles, glad that she is alive. He checks her back, just in case. He sees no blood, and sighs with relief. He gently holds her in his arms, just like in his exam, and leads her to his car, so he can drive her home.

**And done! This was a lot longer than it was supposed to be xD I'll let my sister Beta it ;p Don't worry, you will find out what happened with Gray and Erza very soon ;p Peace my lovely, adorable chibis and stay happy and safe :D \\(*^-^*)/! Let all your dreams come true and never let anyone stop you ;) Ciao!**

**Roxanne~**


	32. The Wrath of the Queen

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Hey guys! :D So last chapter, I wrote the simulation thingies for Erza and Gray, no one else. I meant to write that I was going to write the rest of the SC in this chapter, but I forgot... sorry :3 And I am truly sorry for always making my story extremely angsty, even though I always say I will try to make it funny x3 I guess I'm just an angsty writer, but I will try to add more humour ;) I just finished Gokusen and it was amazing :D This chapter is probably short.. sowwy x3 Anyways, enjoy ;p**

**Grayza forever: Thank you! :D And nope, but good guess :p I'm still contemplating whether I want Jellal in this fanfiction. On one hand, I really don't want to put him in because my sister ships him with Erza and I really don't want to make him a hated character, but on the other hand he would be really good for the story line and it's still not too late.. Argh! xD I don't know... I might, maybe :p**

**Chapter XXXII: The Wrath of the Queen**

**Fairy Tail Fright Simulation Arena - Same time as last chapter**

Lucy took her seat on the weird contraption, slightly scared at what she would experience. She didn't like to reflect on all the sad things in her life, including her fears. If only she knew what her worst fear was, she could at least be a bit more prepared. Could she survive a simulation that she wasn't ready for? She was about to find out.

_Okay, breathe, just breathe. It's fine, nothing will happen to you...__  
__What the hell is my worst fear? _  
_Gahh! I don't even know..._  
_They are now turning on the machine._  
_I can't open my eyes, that's bad..._

_Where am I? _  
_Why am I holding a picture of.. Mum? _  
_Am I back at my house? _  
_No! Dad is probably in here! I need to run._

_I'm out of the house and I'm running away, but not in the direction I want._  
_Why am I in the hospital? What the hell is happening?_  
_I go into room 543 and no one tries to stop me... Strange._

_..Dad?_  
_Why is he on the hospital bed?_  
_I rush to him and I know I'm about o cry, but I try to hold them back._  
_He opens his eyes briefly and looks directly into my brown ones..._

_"I never loved you," he mouths, and I receive it all too clearly._  
_The next moment, he removes his hand from mine, and it's limp.._  
_He's dead._  
_My heart breaks.. I can physically hear it breaking._

_Someone is behind me, but I don't want to acknowledge them._  
_I can't._

_Now I remember what my worst fear is..._  
_I don't want to be unloved._  
_I want to feel loved and embraced, not hated by everyone I know._

_"Luce!" A voice says forcefully, making me turn instantly, tears still in my eyes._  
_"I can't believe you cheated on me, I hate you Lucy Heartfilia!" screams the Salmon haired boy that I love so much._

_"NO! STOP, PLEASE!" I cry, collapsing on the floor._

"Well done Lucy, that was very good," says a far away voice. Lucy opens her eyes groggily, too tired from that emotional roller coaster. Instead of getting up, she stays in the seat for a couple of minutes, trying to calm herself. Would she really ever cheat on Natsu? _NO! _She told herself firmly. She knew she wasn't a cheater, and she would never dare to harm Natsu and make him have that sad expression he had on his face when he was alone. She clenched her fists in determination, vowing at herself that she would never break Natsu's heart.

But every simulation has a bit of truth installed in it...

* * *

Natsu jumped around nervously, hoping that his worst fear wouldn't be discovered. He had always been a secretive person, so people knowing even half of what his true self was extremely rare. If only he could just skip this test, then he would be so much happier. He had asked if he could skip it, but out of all the other tests this had been completely mandatory.. guess he would just have to tough it out. As he sat in his seat, he knew he was trembling, but he held his shoulders to stop it, at least for a little bit.

_It's fine, just think of Happy and Lucy, they always keep me happy.__  
__And my friends. _  
_Good, it's fine, I'm not scared..._  
_Why is it so hard to OPEN MY EYES?_

_Oh, now I can see._  
_Why am I so short?_  
_And why am I on a swing?_  
_Oh look, Lisa's here!_  
_She's so young in this._

_I try saying hi, but she's not even listening to me and I can't speak._  
_I smile, and she turns around, but she looks at me with hatred._  
_What did I do?!_  
_I try saying her name again, but she just glares at me and jumps off the swing._  
_I jump off it too and go after her, hoping that I can know why she's so mad at me._

_Wait up Lisanna! I scream in my head._  
_She stops and I'm just waiting behind her, hoping she will say something._  
_I step in front of her and give her a hug._  
_She always loves hugs._

_I'm too shocked when I fall on the ground as I realise that she punched me on the face.._  
_..She still looks pissed._  
_I swallow a few times, glaring at her so she feels at least a bit of guilt._  
_All she does is run away, and I don't follow her..._

_Where am I now?.._

_Oh._  
_No._  
_No, I can't._  
_No..._

_My dad is there, cooking something for himself._  
_I stand there, not knowing what to do._  
_Should I hug him?_  
_I go for it, hoping that this is a time when he was much kinder._

_I hug his leg and all hell breaks loose. He starts screaming at me, telling me to let him go.._  
_I do that right away, tears now slowly going down my cheek._  
_He slaps me, and I recoil back..._

_Now, I'm at the hospital, room 543._

_Why am I even here?_  
_I see Lucy on the floor, holding the hand of the man who I recognise as her father. _  
_She turns around and looks at me, but it isn't Lucy._  
_It can't be._

_"NASTU, STOP LOVING ME! I TOLD YOU, YOU ARE TOO CLINGY AND I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"_

_Everyone else saying that, I was fine with. Not Lucy._  
_Not my Lucy._  
_I break down there and there and start screaming._  
_Why do people run away when I show too much affection?_

_WHY!?_

Natsu bolts upright, his breathing unsteady and uneven. "Great job, Natsu, you did brilliant!"  
Natsu shakes his head at the voice and exits the room. The time that he exits is the exact same time that Lucy exits. They look at each other in horror, remembering the terrifying simulations. Without thinking twice, Natsu runs to Lucy and envelops her in a warm hug, which she gladly melts into. They don't need to tell each other what happened; they only need to know that they are both safe and still happy together...

* * *

Juvia sat on the chair uncomfortably, hoping that whatever was happening would be over soon. She had never liked being tested one on one, just because it made her nervous. She honestly had no clue what the test was about because Lyon had been in that day, but she had not been able to meet him. She knew that he was still in a lot of pain, and she had not wanted him to even come. How could they make him do the test in that condition!?

_Why is Juvia in here?__  
__Oh, Juvia remember now...__  
__Juvia was playing with her friends when they locked her in here.__  
__Juvia is so tiny right now..__  
__They said that they would come back for Juvia, but Juvia knows it's been hours since then.._

_What can Juvia do?__  
__Juvia can count the rain droplets!__  
__1 drip, 2 drop, 3 drip..._

_No!__  
__Why is there a fire?__  
__Juvia need to get out, but the door isn't budging..__  
__This isn't even Juvia's worst fear, Juvia doesn't care about dying anyway..._

_Juvia can feel the heat coming closer, but I don't mind.__  
__After all, Juvia was never appreciated by anyone anyway...__  
__Juvia can hear the water droplets falling, and it calms Juvia down.._

_Juvia starts coughing.. I mean, I start coughing.__  
__I want to improve for Lyon, even though I'm going to burn alive.__  
__I hear someone knocking on the door, but I really don't care anymore..._

_The door slams open but my eyes are closed..__  
__I feel someone pushing on my chest, screaming at me not to die.__  
__I open my eyes slowly to see my Prince-sama._

_Lyon._

_He looks so happy that he hugs me, and I hug him back, perplexed.__  
__It's a younger version of him, and he looks so cute.__  
__I look up to see my parents looking at Lyon disapprovingly while the fire brigade try to put the fire out.__  
__..Why?__  
__I walk up to my parents, and they grab my arm and start pulling me away from Lyon._

_I try to scream, but it doesn't work.__  
__"You will never see that boy again!"_

_I scream and scream, and this time, my voice works.__  
__"I WON'T LIVE WITHOUT HIM!"_

Juvia wakes up, screaming over and over and over again. She doesn't stop until her voice is hoarse. "Fantastic job Juvia!" says an upbeat voice, but Juvia doesn't hear it. She walks slowly out of the room, holding the walls to steady herself. She collapses near the door and begins to cry. She knows that without her parent's approval, she will never be able to do the things she wishes to because she loves them too much to break their hearts...

* * *

Gajeel starts continuously swallowing, already knowing what he has to go through. He knew what his worst fear was from the very start. Gajeel wished that he could reverse that and have a stupid, illogical fear - like a fear of spiders and snakes. That would have been much more enjoyable than the torture he knew he was about to face.

_'Am sat at the head of the table in my house.__  
__Mother and my step father are also sitting beside me, along with the family members.__  
__The different clan leaders are also sitting on the table, looking at me expectantly._

_I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I look up in surprise to see Levi.__  
__She looks stunning in a yukata, but why is she wearing it?__  
__I see a ring on my left finger, and I know instantly that this simulation is in the future._

_I give her a loving smile and I try to speak so I can ask what is going on, but I can't speak.__  
__I try to say something, but no words come out of my mouth, not even noises.__  
__The family elders look at me strangely, but what the fuck am I supposed to say?_

_My mother starts speaking, and I stare at her gratefully.__  
__Ever since I was young, I knew that my mum was beautiful.__  
__She could do anything from being a mother to being a kick ass gangster.__  
__It was in her DNA, after all._

_Her father was a powerful man, and he forced her into an arranged marriage.__  
__My mother had told me that she had loved that man who had left me a huge weight on my shoulders, but I had never believed her.__  
__Not because of her words, but because she had married a selfish monster.__  
__He ran away from his responsibilities and even dared abandon us.__  
__My mother had cried endlessly, hoping that he would return._

_Even to this day, she cries at night when she thinks no one watches.__  
__I want to comfort her and tell her everything's alright, but I know that she would never cry in front of her son.__  
__She wants to be strong for me, but I have never seen her as weak.__  
__After He left us, my mother ran the household all by herself, because I was too young to know anything or make decisions._

_Even now, I would have wished to be smarter so that I could help her, but she always refused.__  
__She is my miracle, my everything__  
__I knew that I could always count on her for anything._

_Suddenly, she stood up.__  
__Her eyes were wide open and her mouth too.__  
__My mother was a calm woman, but in that moment she looked frantic.__  
__We all turned to see what she was looking at, and I made the same expression as her._

_He was older, a lot older than I remember.__  
__But it was Him.__  
__She ran to him and hugged him, tears flowing without a care.__  
__My mother never cried in front of anyone..._

_I knew that even though she loved my step father, he was really only a replacement for Him.__  
__Someone who could make her feel safe.__  
__After all, this was also an arranged marriage filled with unrequited love.__  
__I stood up and looked at the man my mother was holding onto so dearly._

_My father.__  
__My real father._

_"NO! LET GO OF HER YOU MONSTER!"_

Gajeel woke up trembling as he remembered the face that had been in his simulation. He would protect his mother from that good for nothing fucking monster that dared to come back. He would do anything so that they could never meet, even though he knew that they did love each other. "You did amazing Gajeel, great work!" said a voice.

Gajeel stood up and walked out of the door. He saw Juvia on the floor, trying to get up. He helped her and they walked home together in silence, trying to unsuccessfully forget the nightmare they had been through.

* * *

**Fairy Tail 7:50 AM**

It was now Monday, meaning that they would get their test results. Erza had rushed to the board, confident she had aced every single test. She looked at the board for the written paper, and she had gotten full marks on it. She smiled at herself proudly. What surprised her though was that Gray had one mark less than her, placing him second. Erza remembered when she had searched for his information, and they had actually not lied to her. Maybe the gangster wanna-be actually had a few brain cells. For the second test (which she had not done), they had given her a bunch of numbers, but no ranking. It literally meant nothing to her because she had had to use her phone to search for it. Apparently, she would get a prize for the large number. She shrugged and moved on. The last test had been something different, so they had also made it so you had to find it on your phone.

She searched her name, and what she saw was a complete surprise.

**2\. Erza Scarlet**

_Second... Second?! _Erza stared at the screen in disbelief before searching her name again and again. Every time, it still showed her the same thing. Who had beaten her in the test?

Erza then began her test, asking **(/harassing :p) **the students on what rank they had gotten on the simulation. Everyone had said something, but it was always lower than hers. After asking almost everyone on the three campuses, she gave up. Who could have beaten her? She honestly could not care anymore as she was exhausted from trying to find the mystery person. She heard her phone ring and she picked it up immediately.

"Hey Scarlet, guess who beat you on the third test?  
I know, you love me!" he said before doing a kissing noise and hanging up. Erza dropped her phone in shock. She picked it up again in a rush a few seconds later, wanting to verify if what he had said was true.

She put in the search engine Gray's full name, and she whimpered before she growled in anger.

**1\. Gray Fullbuster**

She had wanted to smash the phone on the floor in rage, but he had bought it for her. She chose to grip it tightly instead before putting it in her bag and stomping to the student council room, which was empty. She locked it and thought of what to do.  
_What always helps me when I'm angry?__  
_An idea clicked in her head straight away..

_Singing.._

But singing could only bring out so much anger.. she needed something a bit quicker...  
_Rapping, perfect!_

Erza began scribbling words on paper, not caring how messy her handwriting was becoming. She needed to vent, and the words expressed exactly how angry it was. However, the lyrics turned out to be a rap about some girl ranting about a stupid guy who she didn't know if she liked or hated. It was nothing to do with the test, and Erza knew that she also was a sappy romantic, so the rap was really a girl struggling with her emotions. She didn't really mind and she decided to rap them anyway, trying to get the best beat for the lyrics.

What she had failed to notice was that Gray had been sleeping in the SC room the whole time, lightly snoring. He had heard a door slam, which had made him hide behind the sofa he had been previously sat on. Having no clue what she was doing, he just leaned on the sofa while one leg was crossed and the other was vertical in front of him. He heard her open her mouth and he paid attention as he heard her unexpectedly rap.

"Crying is such a stupid thing,  
Not knowing what is in store,  
I wanted you to be a fling,  
But you turned out to be so much more,

You stole my heart in a stupid game,  
And now I want you to feel pain,  
You used to be really tame,  
Now you tease me, what do you gain?

I want to let you go,  
I'm losing so much control,  
You just became my foe,  
But with you I feel so whole.."

Erza panted before dropping on her knees. Gray had heard the whole thing and smiled, still amazed at her angelic voice. He got up silently and crouched down next to her. As she turned to see who was next to her, he lightly kissed her cheek. Her anger dissolved, leaving the Titania red in the face. He held her cheek and moved closer to her ear before whispering,  
"I guess that I just witnessed the Wrath of the Queen."

**This took way too long xD It was only supposed to be short, but I accidentally made it a lot longer.. Never mind :p Hope you enjoy this guys and have an amazing day my cute, adorable little chibis \\(*^-^*)/!**

**Roxanne~**


	33. Grand Battle

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Hey guys! Another chapter for all you lovely people out there ;) This one is actually dedicated to my sister for all her help/support/betaing/advice and just being there for me my whole life :D You are the best twin sister in the world and even though you can be annoying, you are amazing and I hope that wherever we may go in the future, we can still be sisters and best friends forever :D This is dedicated to my sister because her favorite number is 3 and there's no way I'm writing 333 chapters, so chapter 33 will have to do xD. Get ready for angst and fluff all in the same chapter ;p Enjoy!**

** Thanks for telling me **DarkNatsuVLuffy **that** **I've been spelling Natsy's name wrong Xd I somehow managed to change it all ;p**

**Grayza forever: Thank you again xD! And yeah, Erza's just multi-talented like that ;). I'm joking, it's just that singing quickly seemed a bit meh, so I thought that rapping to show her ultimate anger would be better :). I hope you liked it and didn't find it too random x3. And you are allowed to ship whoever you want to, I won't judge :D My sister also ships Jerza, so you and her could have long meaningful conversations about them xD It's not messed up because they do have their moments, as long as you remember to come here for the Grayza part of your heart ;p**

**Chapter XXXIII: Grand Battle**

**Erza's car - 12 a.m.**

Erza drove on, sick and tired of the people who kept on betraying her in her life. Of course, it was always the one _jerk!_She knew that he was a completely lost cause, but he had done it, and now she was completely pissed. She didn't realise how hard she was gripping the steering wheel, so much that her knuckles began turning paler and paler. _How could he?_she asked herself over and over, sick and tired of the same thought always messing with her brain. She needed to go somewhere to think. Anywhere! But where could she go?

She kept on driving for a few minutes in circles, thinking of the best place to go. Finally, it clicked. There was an abandoned stage just outside of Magnolia that only a few people knew about. It was getting demolished next week, so no one was there to occupy it. It was the perfect place. Erza began driving at full speed (well, as fast as the speed limit allowed). When she arrived, she parked on the grass, just next to the concrete. Gracefully, she got out of the car and banged the door shut. She knew that it was very unlikely that someone would steal her car and even if they did, it had her name on it and everything, plus a tracking device. She would just have to sue them or beat them up - whichever one they preferred.

Erza breathed in the cool breeze, smelling grass and forgotten foods and drinks. It had once been a place of lively performances and festivals, now a quiet space that was abandoned. She sighed through her teeth, nostalgic and sad that a place that had brought happiness to so many people had now been so easily forgotten...  
_You have gone into oblivion, just like everything else..._

She slapped herself on the face with both hands lightly, hoping that she would stop being so pessimistic. She needed to let go of all these feelings, and she knew what the one thing that helped her always would be. She breathed in, breathed out, and began walking to the stage. They had taken the stairs to go on the stage, so Erza effortlessly jumped over it to reach the it. She checked for the microphone and was surprised when she saw that everything was in pristine condition. Nothing was missing, not even the drums or guitars, and everything was in place, like it knew that she was about to do her performance. She turned on the microphone and sang a few notes, hoping that the volume was not too loud or too low. She found that it was perfect and began positioning herself in a stance - feet apart, microphone close to her lips and her eyes on the imaginary audience. All she needed now was a song.

She pulled out her phone and checked the first song on her playlist. She gave a small smile at it. It was a very fitting song, considering the situation. She went back to her stance, breathing in and breathing out with her eyes closed.  
She was ready.

**\\(*^-^*)/**

Lucy had been an emotional wreck that day. She woke up sweating at 6 a.m in Natsu's arms, in a panic that her father had found out where they were and would take her away from him. She slowly got up, hoping not to wake Natsu. He was very unpredictable, sometimes waking up at the slightest movement and other times sleeping through an earthquake. Luckily for her, he was in one of those sleeps were he wouldn't wake up even if there was a hurricane. She dressed in a pair of trousers and a blue shirt while tying her hair, not caring too much about her appearance.

She badly needed a place to think, but somewhere that would not be occupied by her father's lingering presence. He had built many of her favourite establishments, so she needed to choose carefully. It finally clicked, after sitting on her bed for a few minutes. She knew where to go - the abandoned stage. She knew that her father had wanted to demolish it, but it would take at least two more weeks before it was finalised. It was perfect there as there was tons of open space along with sunlight and a place filled with memories.

Everyone who was a kid in Magnolia knew about the stage. It was a place where many festivals were organised, mostly to entertain the children. Everyone who went there loved it, and it had been like a tradition to all those who were part of Magnolia. Last year was the last time that it had been in use, and it would never be used again. The thought saddened her because it had been a very special part of her childhood, and all those new children being born would never get to experience the same joy as her and all the other kids who had gone there annually. As her and Natsu's apartment was near the borders of Magnolia, it would only take her a ten minute walk to go there.

She skipped her way there, trying to fill her mind with happy thoughts of her life currently... It was a good life.. She had Natsu, a home, a part-time job that paid really well and a ton of new friends. Lucy had never seen herself as a cat person, but Happy could be quite friendly (depending on his mood). Sure, life wasn't easy. Sometimes, they couldn't produce enough money to pay the bills and always required extensions, but their landlord was a very kind old woman. She knew that other people lived a much harsher life than hers, but she loved hers right now and was glad of everything she had. Some thoughts of regret kept on slipping in her mind, but she quickly replaced them with happy thoughts of her relationship with Natsu.

Who would have known that at the age of sixteen, she would finally find love? And not even with some Prince Charming with Blond hair and Blue eyes with a White horse and all that rubbish, but a lively sixteen year old with Salmon hair and the widest smile while having the saddest past. Lucy focused on her friends, how their lives were focused on the sad parts. They all had baggage, whether they liked it or not. It was fine with her, because they could all comfort each other as they clearly knew what feelings they felt when experiencing those tragic memories. She was glad of having what she had, because other people didn't even know what love felt like. Lucy could proudly say all types of loves that she felt, except one...

She had finally arrived, glad that the stage was still large and comforting. She decided to go and sit on the large stage, perfectly facing the ghost band. She leaned back on a railing and began to finally cry loudly, her sobs loud in the quiet space. She cried and cried, the thoughts that she had been avoiding suddenly washing over her in a torrent.  
_Why can't he love me?!__  
_Why can't he accept me for me and just appreciate me?!__  
_How can he hate Natsu?!_  
_Why can't we just act like a normal family?!_  
_Why does he care more about money than his own flesh and blood?!_

And the last question, which haunted her ever since he had started openly showing disgust at her:  
_Why does he think I caused mum's death!?_

Lucy knew that she had nothing to do with her mother's death, but she knew that her father had always suspected her. She loved her mother, why would she hurt her!? Lucy's sobs finally subdued, now only strangled noises escaping her lips. She heard footsteps from very far away and she hid in the shadows, hoping they would go away. Instead, the footsteps came closer and closer, and Lucy feared for the worst. _Has he found me?..._

Instead, she heard light footsteps, much lighter than her father's. She saw a silhouette getting closer, and it was in the shape of a woman. She was roaming around the stage, and Lucy finally saw who it was; Erza Scarlet. What was she doing here? Lucy had a vague idea, because she knew about Erza's talent. She turned on her phone to see countless messages from Gray. She knew instantly that he had done something stupid, and now Erza had to suffer through it. She shook her head, baffled that he still couldn't learn how not to be a jackass. She prepared her camera and was ready to record Erza, so hopefully Gray would get the message.

**\\(*^-^*)/**

**watch?v=TVOsXdE62Jw (Grand Piano by Nicki Minaj, enjoy :) )**

"Am I just a fool?  
Blind and stupid for loving you..  
Am I just a silly girl?  
So young and naive to think you were...  
The one who came to take claim of this heart,  
Cold-hearted shame you'll remain just afraid in the dark..

And now the people..  
The people are talking,  
The people are saying that you have been playing my heart,  
Like a Grand Piano..

The people are talking,  
The people are saying that you have been playing my heart,  
Like a Grand Piano...

So play on.. Play on.. Play on...  
Play on.. Play on, Play on...  
Play on.. Play on.. Play on...  
Play on.. Play.. on...

Am I being a fool?  
Wrapped up in lies and foolish truths?  
What do I see in you?

Maybe I'm addicted to all the things you do..

'Cuz I keep thinking you were..  
The one who came to take claim of this heart,  
Cold-hearted shame you'll remain just afraid in the dark!...

The people are talking,  
The people are saying that you have been playing my heart,  
Like a Grand Piano..

The people are talking,  
The people are saying that you have been playing my heart,  
Like a Grand Piano...

So play on.. Play on.. Play on..  
Play on.. Play on, Play on...  
Play on.. Play on.. Play on...

Play on.. Play... on..."

She sang the last note quietly before dropping on the floor and crying silently. Lucy was shivering all over, experiencing Erza's voice for the first time live. She was absolutely speechless at how jaw-dropping her singing and performance was. Without looking at her phone, as she was transfixed by Erza's collapsed figure, she sent the recording to Gray, hoping he would get the hint and hurry the hell up and apologise to Erza on whatever he did wrong. What Lucy didn't know was that she had accidentally sent the recording to everyone, including all her famous contacts.

**\\(*^-^*)/**

Gray woke up, tons of messages in his inbox. He yawned loudly before scrolling through them. He knew he was popular, but this many on a weekend? Something was definitely up. He read a couple of messages and they all said the same. Exact. Stupid. Thing. Gray regretted what he did now, even though it had been a stupid joke! He didn't think that anyone would _actually_believe him...

_Gray, being the most popular male student in Fairy Tail, had to do an exclusive interview. He didn't mind at all, since it meant that he could skip a lesson. He walked sluggishly to the conference room while yawning, tired from not getting enough sleep. Erza had finally forgiven him for getting a higher grade than her on the third test, but it had been after_**_a lot_**_ of gifts and saying "I'm sorry", way too much. Any other test, he might have tried to decrease his marks, but on that one, he was pretty sure it was impossible. If they did the test again and he beat her at it again, he didn't know whether he could shower her with gifts and apologies again. After all, it had taken two whole weeks! And not to mention that after he had kissed her on the cheek, she had almost punched him. Luckily, he had been expecting that reaction, so he just ran away from her._

_He opened the door and saw that there were microphones and headpieces along with several other gadgets. How important was this interview?! He took his seat, were it had his name tag. Lucy wasn't in that day, so he quickly texted to check if she was feeling better. She had complained about feeling sick for the past week, finally resting only today. He hoped that she would recover soon. The cameras started recording and he put on his showbiz smile. The interviewer asked several questions, and he answered them all with natural ease._

_The only time he hesitated was when the interviewer asked, "So, what is your relationship between Erza Scarlet?"__  
_He was speechless at that question because he didn't think that people would care. What could he say? He thought of the first thing he could think of, as his reputation was at stake. It was live, after all, so hopefully Erza wouldn't completely freak out and she would just think that it was a joke.__

_"Erza Scarlet is one of my many conquests. Like every other girl in this school, she has to fall in love with me. I mean, who can't? Although, Erza's a pretty tough nut to crack," he said sarcastically while giving the camera a wink. Apparently, him talking sarcastically sounds exactly like how he speaks normally because everyone believed him. Being live, everyone in every school that the interview was being broadcasted to would hear what he said.__  
_..._Especially Erza, who was just a floor below him._

_Everyone in Erza's class saw her snap her pen. The loud crack sent the people in her class in a shivering fit. Once again, they were absolutely petrified of the Titania._

He got up from his bed and ran to his car. He drove on, ignoring all the speed limit signs and recklessly driving to the school. He rushed to the room where he knew that the Scarlet haired maiden used to frequent a lot more in the past. He took the equipment he needed and wrapped them in a long cloth before rushing back to his car. He checked the video that Lucy had sent him and he knew right away where she was. He rushed to the stage outside Magnolia.

He took the two long, pointy objects from the cloth and ran on the grass, 200 meters away from the stage. He dropped one object on the floor and held the other with one hand, pointing it to the stage.

"Erza, I, Gray Fullbuster, challenge you to a fight!" he screamed, knowing full well that she had heard him. He saw a slumped figure on the stage, next to the microphone and knew it was her. At his voice, he saw her body tense up. She slowly got up and walked like a zombie to him. It broke his heart to see her like that and he knew it was completely his fault. He was the one who was supposed to make her happy, not the complete opposite!

He took the fencing sword from the floor and threw it at her. She caught it flawlessly, her eyes shining with what he saw was anger, sadness and determination. She pointed her sword at him and said, "I accept your challenge..."

**\\(*^-^*)/**

Lucy had seen Gray arrive, and she knew that he was up to something. Curious of his intent, she used her phone to record the scene that would unfold. What she did not expect to see was two swords, and Gray initiating a fight! _Are you completely MAD?!_she asked Gray internally. Did he forget that Erza was a pro at fencing, or did he completely forget in the past few days that he had been acting stupidly without her there?

"En Garde!" she heard Gray scream, even though she knew that he had no clue what it meant or when he was supposed to say it.

**\\(*^-^*)/**

"En Garde!" Gray screamed as he aimed for Erza's stomach. She blocked the attack effortlessly, and he pulled back. As he went to attack again, he knew what he had to do. Their swords clashed, the clinging ringing loudly as the two swords connected, and he started to sing.

**(Another original song, sorry if it's rubbish xD)**

"You thought you could run away from me,  
But I will always find a way,  
To make you stay,  
So don't go away...

I know I've been a complete jerk these days,  
Not considering any of your feelings..  
But...  
I hope you understand!..

I didn't mean what I said,  
It was only a joke,  
I knew we were close,  
So didn't think you would care!  
But then I saw your face,  
It was so enraged,  
Now I'm here to beg for your forgiveness...

In this Battle..."

Erza had been taken off-guard by Gray suddenly singing. He had made those lyrics completely on the spot, she knew. Was this part of the battle? She was about to find out...  
As he was making her go backwards, closer to the stage, Erza suddenly began attacking more fiercely as she sang,

"You had no right!  
You just don't care!  
Do you know how much you made me scared?  
Was I a game to you or not!? I don't know anymore...

You know I trusted you so much!  
And then you pull a stunt on me like that...  
How do you expect me to believe you again!?...

I'm going to win this Battle!..."

Erza sang with a high pitch, making Gray's technique falter. She had nailed every note, and now he was going to go closer to the concrete. He had to push her back again to win.

"You know I didn't do it on purpose,  
I thought you knew!  
I didn't know you'd care!

I was being sarcastic, you should know me well!  
I never take anything seriously..  
I always fuck up in the stupidest of ways!..

But then I saw your face,  
I was so ashamed,  
I didn't want to hurt you this way!  
We are close friends..  
So why can't you see the intent?!"

Gray singing in high notes had made Erza gawp at him in awe, making her being pushed back once again. However, she knew that she would never lose in fencing.

"I'm sorry, I know you care!  
I know all the times that you have been there for me!  
But just because you have a voice,  
You can't say whatever you like!

You don't know how it hurts.. To be called a game!  
Girls like me go through it every day!  
We hope somebody can save us, but all they do is hurt us!..

I understand, I get it now!  
You are sorry and I am glad,  
That I'm not just a game to you...!

But I will win! I will fight!  
Because I know I can win!...  
This epic battle..  
I'll make sure you become rubble!.."

She sang sweetly at the end while pointing her sword to his chest, making him fall on the grass, close to the tarmac. She went above him and pointed her sword to his chest before softly singing,

"I win this Battle..."

They both began laughing loudly while clutching their stomachs and Lucy giggled along before walking back to her apartment, hiding behind the shadows. Even though life seemed hard at the moment, there would always be things that could raise her moral - the prime example being her friends.

Erza collapsed on the grass next to him and faced the blue sky with him. They stayed silent for a few seconds before Erza shuffled a bit closer to Gray and whispered in his ear, "You know that you can never beat me at fencing, right?"  
Gray just chuckled lightly before falling asleep, glad that he hadn't ruined one relationship that he intended to keep.

**Thank you for reading! And again, sorry for spelling Natsu's name wrong all this time, I can't believe I've been so blind :(.. Anyway, on a sad note, I have exams in the next two/three weeks :'(. This means that I will be mostly revising, so I won't be able to write much until they are over... I will try to write, but it's very unlikely that I will update this story for three weeks :(... As soon as they finish, I will write so many chapters you guys will need so many breaks to read it :p! Hope you don't forget me, as I love you guys very much my sweet, adorable little chibis ;) Stay safe and enjoy life :3 xxxxx**

**Roxanne~**


	34. 3SPOOKY5ME

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: HEYA I'M BACK! Sorry for all the wait, these exams were literally hell xD. Anywho, how have you guys been ;) Ready to read tons of drama and fluffyness mixed with angst? Of course you are! :D I missed writing so much! x3 This chapter is a long awaited one because you guys actually never got to know how Erza and Gray ended up in the same bed on chapter 31 ;p (And no, I didn't need to go on the preview of my chapters to find out what chapter I was talking about O-O...) . Also, I wanted to give some shutouts to tons of people, as they have all been epic :D**

**Please read my friends'stories :) :**

**~Life isn't always a FairyTail (by Mira-san7) and if you can read French: Des lyceens pas comme les autres (Sorry, don't know how to put the accent :(, Please don't get offended)**  
**~All of erzascarlet7's fanfictions :)****  
**~This Crazy Ride (By Relient City)**  
**~A Rising Star (By DarkNastuVLuffy)**  
**~Famous Childhood Friend (By Yumi-tan)**  
**~Mission: Date Gray Fullbuster and Winter of Love (By shinri-chan)**  
**~All stories by Girl with Life full of Anime**  
**~If you speak Spanish, OTRA HISTORIA (By chantmini)**  
**~All stories by Lucy Fairymage**  
**~Neko Erza (By LuvOreos)**  
**~All stories by naithoewoka**  
**~Mariposa (By anime is my attitude)**  
**~All stories by sassywriterchick**  
**~ And of course, all stories by TheShipWierdo****

**And I guess that's it for now xD. Tell me if you want me to give you a shoutout, every writer deserves to be known for their epic work! :D And please take some time to read these amazing stories, if you can :) Thank you for reading mine ;p**

**And now, review time! :D :**

**Grayza forever: Thank you! :D And oh yeah, it kinda is! xD I love Disney movies with all the singing, just any show with tons of music is my cup of tea, so I wanted to incorporate that ;p And thank you so much! Hopefully, they all went well x3!**

**Grayza Fan: Aww thank you! (*^^*)! And I should be the one thanking you for reading my failure attempt of Grayza xD!**

**Love Grayza: Yep, I'm definitely adding Jellal :D It's been decided ages ago after a lot of arguing on where I would actually put him in the storyline xD..**

**Anyways, enjoy ;) BTW, A bit smexy at the end of the chapter :p (Who even uses that word anymore xD?)**

**Chapter XXXIV: 3SPOOKY5ME**

**Erza's Mansion - 2 AM (After chapter 30)**

The group of teenagers started relaxing after Truth or Dare. They then chose to play a game on Erza's TV screen. They chose to play Outlast, and Gray controlled the game. It was all in the darkness and every minuscule sound could be heard because the speaker was turned up at full volume while they all wore headphones connected to the TV. Natsu started breathing deeply and heavily, which made the others even more terrified of what was about to happen.

They saw the journalist drive up to the asylum and take his camera, which Gray tested out in night vision mode. Sometimes, the simplest games were the best, and this was the case for Outlast. Being in first person, the creepy characters and the chilling story line frightened everyone playing. Gray died quite a few times, not being the gaming expert that he had bragged being about a few minutes ago, so Cana decided to take the controls. They swapped whenever they died (which was a lot of times) and they finally managed to finish half the game after countless tries.

The one person who had shown no external fear was Erza, but inside she was petrified. The whole group noticed how emotionless she had been, and they had all thought that she was an emotionless monster. After they stopped their gaming session, someone turned on the lights and they watched some late night TV show. What they didn't expect to happen was that all the lights suddenly turned off, and the TV just showed static. Erza raised an eyebrow as this had never happened to her before. Her TV was top quality, one of the most well built and expensive ones out there. It wouldn't just suddenly show static, because it ran on solar power, not antenna.

Cana got up and started feeling for the light switch in the complete darkness.  
"Nothing here!" she stated, before they heard a loud scream. They all turned around and even in the complete darkness, they knew it was Cana. Cana screamed for a lot of reasons, maybe for a party, anger, despair, but never fear... And that scream delivered only one emotion- absolute terror. "Cana! Babe, where are you? Are you okay?" cried Hibiki uncertainly, not knowing whether she would reply.

The lights turned back on, but no one was near the light switch. Everyone made a headcount of who was there, and Cana had truly just... Vanished. Disappeared in thin air. Something was up, and everyone was still a little jumpy from the horror game. Erza felt her throat, and it was really dry, so she made for the door. They all followed her with their eyes, and when she tried to turn the door knob, nothing happened...

The doors were locked.

Natsu ran to Lucy and started counting from one onward, until he could feel a bit safer. Happy, abandoning Carla, started rubbing his face on Natsu's leg to comfort him while meowing softly. Natsu's breathing seemed to relax a bit, but one person was still worried out of their wits.

"CANA!" Hibiki desperately screamed, hoping that his fiancée could hear him, but to no avail. Hibiki curled up in a ball and started panicking slowly, thinking of what would happen if he had to cancel the marriage after all he had been through. He wanted to scream, to drown out any noise, but he knew that his friends would think he was becoming mad.**(New title for Breaking Bad? :o Nope, probably not...)**

They were surrounded in darkness once again. Only their shallow breathing and the static filled the room with noise. Even though Erza's bedroom was pretty large, it seemed too small for the teens. Juvia turned her cell phone on, hoping to contact the police. However, there was no connection and her phone was completely dead. They all reflectively thought for a few moments, trying to figure out an answer to the dilemma.

"Look, I think there is only one reason why this is all happening," started Loke while quietly whispering. "We clearly have a kidnapper or killer of some sort, and since most of us here have money, they clearly want to use us so that we give them money, or our parents will."  
"But Cana wasn't that rich, so why would they kidnap her first?" questioned Natsu rationally. Everyone looked in his direction, knowing that he was completely right.

"It's the drinks, I bet," said Hibiki, his voice slightly cracking. Everyone looked in his direction, even though they could barely see anything with the only light emanating from the static.

"What do you mean?" asked Elfman, curious.  
"Cana stopped drinking a long time ago, because of our child.."  
"Wait, what? No one told me Cana was pregnant!?"  
"Thanks for interrupting me Elfman, but now's not the time. So anyway, when Gray sold all the drinks, a gang got involved."  
"Gang?" questioned Gray.  
"Shut up Gray and let me finish," ordered Hibiki. That made him shut up. "So anyway, they grabbed all the alcohol and got into a bit of trouble with another gang and the police, and they wanted to sound hardcore, so they said they were on cocaine and they found it on Cana's doorstep. The rival gang is now trying to catch Cana, so now they have her." He visibly shivered.

"No offence Hibiki, but that's the stupidest thing I've heard! And even if all you said was true, why the hell would they go to all this trouble when they could just get her all alone in some dark corner of a street, where she usually hangs out!?" contradicted Erza, knowing that she was completely right. A scream from Lucy made them all jump and turn to look at her, but as soon as they did that, Hibiki vanished.

"What's wrong Lucy?" asked her concerned boy toy**(I'm sorry, I had to write it :p)**  
"T..There was a human shadow over there, even though it's almost impossible as no one was standing there.." And they held each other closer.  
"Hibiki is gone. Another great man lost..." said Elfman solemnly. Erza was still dehydrated from the stress of the situation, so she searched the room once again for a drink, no matter what it was. She saw a bottle of wine on the floor. _How did it get there? Never mind, a drink is a drink. One little sip won't kill me right?_

She took a swing, but it really had done nothing to help her. Moreover, the solution inside the bottle was not wine at all, but some disgusting water. She started coughing, and Gray gently patted her back to stop her from choking.  
"MEOW!MEOW! MEOW!" they all heard in the distance. The lights finally turned on, and they knew that four of the eleven had disappeared. Cana, Hibiki, Happy and Carla were gone. Juvia started turning red and fiddling with her hands, making everyone feel nervous for her.

"Are you okay?" asked Gray, worried for the Bluenette.  
"No...N..NOTHING!" she suddenly shouted before running to the door and trying to pull the door handle.  
"It won't work.." he said, a bit sullenly.  
"Sh! Don't... Just don't speak!" she whispered. Everyone stayed quiet, waiting for something else to happen. A click was heard and Juvia smiled. She opened the door and left it open. They all rushed to go outside, but the door suddenly shut on them, a blood imprint on the door handle. A scream was heard in the distance.

"Okay, it's decided. No one is allowed to leave. We all stay close to each other near the TV, using the static as our only light source." Gray said firmly. They all nodded in agreement, not keen on losing another person. Hopefully, nothing scary would happen.

But they were so wrong.

Suddenly, the whole room exploded in sound. Several knocks were heard, someone was repeatedly scratching the glass everywhere, things were being thrown on the floor loudly, even though there was no one else other than them in the room. The room became chaos and they all closed their eyes while cupping their ears, hoping that the noise would stop.

Erza opened her eyes to find herself alone with Gray. She could see the puff of frosty air from his lips, even though he was probably not cold. However, she was freezing cold. She couldn't stop shivering from the room temperature, which had decreased immensely. Gray looked at Erza, concerned. There was no need to speak, as it was evident that she was freezing to her death. He opened his arms wide, inviting her in. She gladly accepted and hugged him. She was surprised to find that he was unusually warm, even though his body temperature always seemed below 0 degrees Celsius.

"I.. I.. can..Ca..can.t... f..fe..fee...feel an..anything," she whispered in his ear, her teeth chattering uncontrollably.  
They stayed in silence before he suggested..

"Take your clothes off."  
"What? YOU PERVERTED JERK, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU RIGHT NO.."  
"Erza, shut up. I'm only saying this because you will get hypothermia and die if you don't take them off."  
"Don't you even dare telling me to shut up! And my clothes are not wet, so what would be the point in that?!"

But in fact, her clothes were getting damper by the second thanks to the freezing cold conditions. She kissed her teeth in annoyance before slowly taking her shirt off and trying to recover some of her modesty by covering her private parts.

"Don't look!" she whispered, leaning into him again to get some warmth.  
"I don't need to, I can just feel them," he said, an evident smirk on his face.

She punched him on the shoulder before leaning into the warm hug. He chuckled softly, and it was like music to her ears. They stayed silent for a couple of minutes, Erza wondering where everyone was.

"STOP!" They both heard from outside her bedroom window. Erza grabbed her shirt and used it to cover herself, not bothering to button it up, leaving her bra in full view. She checked outside the window to see no one there. She turned around, and the only familiar presence had disappeared.

Gray was gone too.

Erza sat on her bed, contemplating what had happened. While she felt like crying and punching and screaming and breaking down all the doors, she knew she had to think rationally. She took a deep breath before slowly moving closer and closer to the only exit. She turned the handle, still covered in blood, and was surprised when she heard the familiar click, telling her that it was open. She pushed it forward and saw no one in the corridor. She saw nothing that could indicate where they could have taken her friends, so she went back to her bedroom in dismay.

She stood in the middle of the room, all alone...

"BOOO!" A loud scream emanated from all around her, the lights finally on again, blinding her eye sight. She fell on the floor and they laughed. _Of course it had been Cana all along!_ She screamed to herself, angry that she had been so worried for the people who had tried to prank her, and had clearly succeeded. Cana held out her hand and smugly smiled before saying, "We may be friends, but when I want something, I always get it!" Erza covered herself completely, so that no one could see what bra she was wearing and ignored Cana's hand. As she continued to pout, everyone gave themselves pats on the back for executing the plan so well to scare the Titania.  
It had obviously been a mission well done.

They all started to leave and tell each other goodbye before Cana whispered to Erza, "I put something in Hibiki's drink, just so that he would be a bit more.. effective nothing. Just to warn you, enjoy yourself," she finished while winking. Erza was confused, but at least Gray was still there and the central heating was back on.

Erza started to see the world in a new, blurry light. It all looked so colourful and amazing, and she felt really giddy and happy. Gray's face was distorted, but still _so amazingly perfect.._Erza started feeling like she was sweating, and she hated sweating. She started taking off her shirt, and Gray's eyes widened in surprise.  
"Wow, wow, wow, Erza, what the fucking hell are you doing?!"  
"It's too hot in here Gray.." she said in a slow, sultry voice. She felt herself losing the grasp of reality and suddenly falling.

"It's fine, I've got you," Gray gently whispered, holding the Titania in his arms as she was about to fall.

"You know, I don't appreciate people pranking me, so I want my revenge on all of them, especially Cana!" She said slowly but with too much enthusiasm.  
"Okay, okay, calm down. We'll do that, happy?" said Gray, holding back as much as he could to not do anything while she was in such a vulnerable state.

_I hate you so much Cana.._

She giggled and stood up on her two feet before seductively caressing his cheek with one finger before tracing a line on his neck, and then holding his shirt collar and pulling him closer to her while she walked backwards on her bed. She fell, consequently making him fall on top of her. How tempted he was to lose control and all morals...

He closed his eyes, breathing in her unique smell. He breathed out and opened his eyes slowly, to be met my bright scarlet-brown irises. She looked so happy, so blissful and so_ extremely attractive_to him. She giggled again, a childish sound that he didn't hear often enough from her.

"Gray, we can't do this!" Erza whispered before giggling again, taking his shirt collar and pulling him closer, their faces only centimetres apart...

..Thanks to **a lot**of self restraint, Gray raised himself up, so he wouldn't have to be so close to the intoxicated Titania.

"Look, it won't happen, not while you've been drugged," he said, mild disappointment lingering in his voice. She cocked her head to the side and looked at him with puppy dog eyes, which made Gray cover his own eyes for his own good. He felt warm hands on his chest, making him look again in shock at what was happening. Erza was actually trying to take his clothes off! He ruffled his Raven hair and smiled, glad that he still had his youth to enjoy, before gently taking her hands off him. But by that time, it was too late as she had already taken off his shirt and thrown it on the floor. She started slowly running her hand from his chest to his eight pack, which was extremely agonising for Gray. Once again, he pulled her hands off him, and she pouted, trying to stir him from doing the right thing.

"Erza, you win! It's not my fault that I find you incredibly seductive, so there you go! But please, stop teasing me! I'm a guy, I'm weak!" He said, exasperated, before taking the drink he had seen on the floor and drinking the contents in one big gulp. He collapsed on the bed on Erza diagonally, while she squirmed by the sudden weight of him.

"Gray, get off!" she said, her voice still very slow. He sluggishly moved on the opposite side of her bed and put the covers on his face, suddenly feeling really cold. She giggled again, before knocking herself out cold. Gray also fell asleep just as quickly, because he had too much of that drink...  
The same drink that Cana had spiked so that Hibiki would sleep with her...  
And by the way, Erza had also drunk it...

**And done! :D A bit of a naughty chapter, if I do say so myself xD Didn't mean for it to happen, but it happened, so deal with it and be happy about it ;p Stay happy my beautiful, lovely, adorable little chibis and don't forget to smile because your smile makes the world just that bit better and a lot more happier :D Hugs! \\(*^-^*)/**

**~Roxanne**


	35. Expect the Unexpected

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Hey guys! xD I'm so tired right now, even though I have no clue why.. And I got stung by poison ivy, and only noticed over a day later! :D -.-... It will apparently go in two weeks, but I can't even look at my hand right now... Anyways, how have you guys been? :D Thank you again for all you've done for me, I really appreciate it ;) Oh, and also, since my sister's favourite number is 3 (as you guys know ;p) and mine is 5 (as you should know, or you don't know me! :'(.. I'm joking! :D But still, you should know ;p), this is a very special chapter indeed ;p.. Not too many spoilers but... Erza's going to be a mega star! :D (Yeah, actually, it's a big spoiler xD). I think I've rambled on enough, so let's give more shout outs and reply to reviews and then we can get on with the story plot ;p.**

**Please read these epic peoples' stories :) :**

**~Soul Tale (By ArcticDragonSlayer)****  
****~Wall Street Wars [a bit mature, but you can handle it ;)] (By Personification of Epicness)****  
****~The Kings and Queens (By cherrypie.210) [Warning: There is Gruvia and Jerza x3]****  
****~(if you can speak Indonesian :) ) All stories by Heeimadictator****  
****~(if you can speak Spanish :) ) All stories by Kiaraen Kagamine****  
****~The Demon's Protegee (By AtomicProBomb)****  
****~Picture Perfect (By docmdportgas)****  
****~The Tenrou Group Lives On (by ValinNight)****  
****~Accidentally in Love (By chemicalria) [Warning: Graylu x3]****  
****~All stories by LolaRose-347 [Warning: Gruvia and Jerza ;p]****  
****~All stories by MintDreams****  
****~All stories by Pokemon Ranger-Trainer****  
****~All stories by Pokster****  
****~The Girl Without A Name (By Gravity-Chan)****  
****~Academy Lovers (By XoKris10oX)****  
****~Clothing Drive (By Genie For Your Wish)****  
****~Life At Fairy Tail Academy (By Rachel Noelle)****  
****~The Waiting Game (By Cure-For-Apathy)****  
****~Birth of the Titania (By I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I)****  
****~It Started With Fate (By ChibiHimeSama)****  
****~I'll always be waiting (By soaps01)**

**And that's it for now xD. More on the next chapter, and I hope you enjoy all these amazing authors :D. Btw, some stories I haven't read yet, but their summary sounds amazing, so I wanna read them later on :D. And about the warnings, I write them because this is a Grayza/Nalu etc story, and not Gruvia or Jerza story, so if you guys only like Grayza or Nalu but not Gruvia or Jerza or something, then you have a warning so you know what you are getting into :). But even if you don't like the pairing, you should check it out because every writer tries so hard with their stories and they appreciate it when people read it, like I appreciate all of you so much :D. Sorry for rambling xD. Let's move on to reviews ;p**

**Grayza forever: Yeah, I'm not very good with smexy stuff xD! And I know there's not enough, but I don't really feel comfortable writing it xD I could try writing something a bit more than that, but then I think I'd die of embarrassment xD I know really great authors called Careenz and Ein011 which are pretty great at writing it :). And thank you very much! :D I'm also very excited for Jellal, because he's coming pretty soon, and I'm so glad that he won't be the evil ex boyfriend who comes to haunt Erza xD.. I don't like seeing him evil, when I know that he's pretty nice :D And I also don't like it when people make Erza break up with him when he was kind to her the whole time, because I feel so sorry for him and I don't like good characters having to suffer xD... I'm a very conflicted person ;p Hope you enjoy this chapter :D**

**Grayza Fan: Thank you so much! :D I'm really glad you enjoy my story :D! And I will, and during my week of freedom, I can update probably every day after next week, so be prepared! :D The conclusion of this story is very near :o.**

**And now, time to enjoy the story! :D**

**Chapter XXXV: Expect the Unexpected**

**A Day After the Grand Battle -**

After forcing Gray to buy her at least ten cheesecakes (five of the strawberry variety), she had finally forgiven him. He had glared at her the whole way home, but the only thing Erza had thought was; _it was so worth it, _with a huge smile plastered on her face, never faltering. She had plopped down on her bed with a huge, content sigh. Now, she lay on her bed with a slight toothache and a loud ringing from her trouser pocket. She had never bothered to change, falling asleep as soon as her head met the mattress. She felt the vibrations, making her vibrate unnaturally. She wanted to reach for her phone, but holding her aching tooth with one hand was much more of a comfort to her, as it soothed the pain.

Begrudgingly, she turned her body to face the ceiling and took her phone out of her pocket with difficulty while still holding her hand over her jaw. The incessant ringing had made her good mood vanish, until she saw the caller...  
It was that talent agency!  
With much more urgency, she slided the green phone button to answer the call.

"Hello?"  
"Good morning," she said with a formal, professional tone.  
"Good morning Miss. Scarlet, sorry to call so early, but we had an emergency."  
"Yes?"  
"Well, , we saw the new song you sang yesterday, and people everywhere were demanding for you to sing for them. Of course, you already have a deal with us, but it would be quite necessary to show everyone your talents. Therefore, we have scheduled a meeting at 6:30 this morning to discuss how to introduce you to the world and make you famous. We will also be discussing music video ideas, so please bring in any songs you have. That is pretty much all, any questions?"  
"No, thank you very much for calling," said Erza politely.  
"You are very welcome. See you later," and the lady at the other end of the phone hung up.

Erza raised herself up with great difficulty before grabbing her glasses and wearing her white, flowy shirt **(first one, if you type in white flowy shirt)**, a black blazer and a black, long pencil skirt with red heels. She also had her hair into a messy bun, to complete her business woman look. She used the elevator and drove in silence for ten minutes, excited and exhilarated for what was about to happen... _I'm actually going to have a single!_

She saw the towering building, modern and expensive looking with platinum letters circulating the large building, like a wedding ring, stating- Magnolia Star Agency. She breathed deeply before opening the large glass doors. Silently, even with the heels, she walked with perfect posture to the only information desk. She was about to speak before the man sitting at the desk smiled at her, recognising right away who she was, and escorting her to the top floor. There, she was met by at least thirty people sitting in front of her, and she knew that the only seat available was at the front of all these intimidating people. She walked with purpose to the chair before she elegantly sat down, hoping to see any of the three people she had met at the school. She caught the eye of all three of them, sitting at the front row, which made Erza relax a lot more.

A man stood up, and he had grey hair, even though he only looked around his early twenties. He walked up to her and gave his hand, signalling for her to shake it. She held the hand and shook it lightly, hoping that this wasn't some terrible mistake that would haunt her. He then walked to a board, which was right next to her, and she was made to sit in his seat, right in the middle of the front row, where she would get the best view of the interactive whiteboard.

"First of all, let us welcome our newest addition into our team," he said, his voice gruff but polished. A loud applause filled the whole room, almost making Erza deaf.  
"Erza Scarlet, we are very glad to have you on our team. As you may know, we have heard your singing, and we find it absolutely divine. We knew right away that you would be a great success, but to do that you need people to notice you. We have the perfect image for you and a song, but we would like to know your input and if you write your own songs, that would be even better!" The whole room exploded in laughter, even though Erza had no clue why they were laughing. _Was something he said a joke?_

Erza gave a slight nod before taking her notebook from her pocket and going to her new song that she had written just a couple of days before. She passed it to him and he scanned it quickly, very impressed by what he saw. His eyes shone as he read the lyrics over and over again, a too white smile spreading his features. She heard him even mutter, "Brilliant! Absolute genius..", but she might have been mistaken. Erza knew a lot about the entertainment industry, and she also knew that there was no way that she was going to give him the notebook. From just one glance, she gathered that he was a very greedy man, and he would exploit anything in his power. As soon as she saw him flipping to other pages, she snatched it away and gave him a sweet smile, hoping he wouldn't find it out of the ordinary. His features darkened for a slight second before he began smiling brightly again._ Definitely fishy._

"Well, it seems that Miss. Scarlet over here can truly do anything. Now, our idea was that you would go to a press conference today in around one hour, sing in the recording straight after and then shoot the music video, completing your debut in approximately two days. Is that okay?"  
"Of course," she whispered, glad that there was no school tomorrow.  
"And one more thing, if I may. I would like you to be the lead in the music video, as well as having a male. I'm thinking a hot, passionate scene were you lose all your senses to this one guy and completely devote yourself to his love. Is that okay?" he asked, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. Erza's eyes were wide open, slight fear showing in them. Seeing this, the man who had been there at the school who was sitting next to her now intervened.  
"Well sir, what if she brings in her boyfriend? Or a friend? You seemed pretty chummy with that Raven haired boy."  
"Yes!" Erza instantly replied, glad she could find an escape from being so close with some random stranger.  
"Well, what our star wants, our star gets. Call this Raven haired friend of yours, but make sure he is at least an 8 on the hotness scale!" He said as he was leaving the room, already calling important people and planning Erza's career.

"By the way, we weren't chummy, I was just trying to apologise.." She whispered to the man next to her. He smiled before removing his glasses and shaking her hand,  
"I'm Sting, by the way."  
"Erza, nice to meet you.. again," she said with a small smile.  
"Same for me," he replied, a much bigger smile on his face. "I'll be your manager from now on."

**\\(*^-^*)/**

"So, Erza, you don't mind me calling you Erza? What is it like being noticed by such a huge company?"

Erza didn't think fame would be quite like this. Every second, flashing lights blinded her, even though she tried her hardest to keep her eyes open. Suddenly, after that meeting, she had been propelled into the world of glitz and glam. They had made her change into extremely high, pink heels with an off the shoulder white top and a navy, knee length skirt with diamond earrings and wavy hair. At least they hadn't put make-up on her, as they thought that her natural look was best. As soon as she had walked out of the building, people crowded around her and asked for autographs and pictures. She had complied, a bit startled by the attention she was getting; it was overwhelming. She even had bodyguards!

They had driven her in a black, slick limousine and asked her several private questions, like her childhood, where she lived, all that stuff. However, she had refused to answer and Sting, trying to redeem the situation, said that she wanted to keep the mysterious persona, which would make her more of an enigma. The reporter had written it all down, ready to publish for the next day. Erza had thought that the conference would have been small, but it was almost as big as a stadium arena, which was very intimidating.

"Yes, it's fine. And it has been a pretty spectacular experience, meeting all the lovely people in the business, they have treated me like family. It's an honour for me that they like my singing and have even complimented it several times," Erza said in a polite voice. She could hear the approving murmurs from them.

"Being such a successful person, don't you have a love interest?" asked another reporter. More cameras flashed in her face, forcing her to say something.  
"No, not really," Erza said with a calm that she never knew she possessed. If the situation was reversed and she had this same interview at school, whoever asked these questioned would be murdered by her own hands.  
"You can't be serious, you must be lying!" said another reporter. She shook her head, wondering why they thought that she wasn't saying the truth.

"This interview is over, please leave through the exit. Thank you for coming," said Sting on the microphone before escorting Erza away, mumbling his apologies about the personal questions. The large crowd made their way to the exit, most of them heading to her limousine to try and talk with her, or at least take more pictures with her, but it was to no avail. Just as swiftly as she had entered, she had swiftly left. Next, it was time to do the photo shoot, and then the music video..

She sat in the dressing room while the stylist straightened her hair and gave her a fringe. How was she supposed to ask Gray to be her co-star? _Hey Gray, would you mind being in my music video?.. No, not like me at all... Gray, I order you to help me or you will pay!.. No.. I'm asking him for a favour, I'm not trying to force him to be my slave! Oh gosh.. This is a terrible idea.._

"..za.."  
"Erza!"  
Erza snapped out of her thoughts in a daze, meeting the eyes of Sting.  
"Huh?"  
"It's time for the photo shoot,"  
"Oh, okay. Thank you." She gave a gracious smile before walking up to the cameraman, near the set.

**\\(*^-^*)/**

Two hours later, after at least 20 costume changes, she had finally completed a flawless photo shoot. Then, she was skirted away to another meeting room, but this time, Gray had to be present. She sat in her swivel chair, swivelling around and around, her head in the clouds. How would she approach him?  
She felt her phone vibrating and absentmindedly answered it.  
"Yes?"  
_"_Erza, where the fuck are you? You weren't home and I've been trying to call you for ages!" Gray's voice snapped her out of whatever she had been feeling.  
"Erm..Er..Uh..Hi.."  
"Well?" Gray waited patiently, his voice a lot less angry, noticing that the Titania was stuttering. Erza swallowed before blurting out,  
"Gray, I need you to be in a music video with me because I'm finally going to have my debut but I need someone to be there with me, and the only person I could think of was you," she ended, breathless.

Gray smirked before agreeing. It was time to save the princess in distress.

"Okay Erza, what's the song?" asked Sting, curious.  
"It's called Our Affair. It's about this girl that has this short, sweet passionate affair with a guy she met from the coffee shop. But one day, he leaves her and the next thing she knows is that he's dead. She's at his grave, umbrella in hand wearing all black, rain plummeting down on her. She talks about how alone he always looked from a distance and how no one came to his funeral. Then, when the song ends and she's about to leave the grave, a tear falls from her face, but she notices another woman walking up to his grave, a ring on her finger, holding a rose.. That's the story. What do you think?"

Sting stood still, his breath taken away by the potency of Erza's song and her vision for the music video. _She really is something..__  
_"Hey Erza, could I please have your num.."  
"Hello ladies! The cold-hearted lady killer is here and ready to meet the damsel!" Gray announced very loudly. Erza rolled her eyes, even though she was internally smiling. Gray held out his arms, and Erza jumped into them, glad to feel his coolness at a moment when she felt hectic and frazzled. Sting bit down on his tongue before putting on a professional smile to introduce himself to Gray.

"Hello Gray..Fullbuster? It is a privilege to make your acquaintance," Sting said, gripping rather tightly to Gray's hand. Gray teared his hand away, slightly glaring at the man he had seen before at the school. He then went on to explain how things would run and that they had to follow everything the director said, because he was one of the very best but very strict. They walked to the recording studio, ready for Erza to sing it. What came to a surprise to them is that Erza knew where everything was and decided to take over, doing all the vocals plus directing the sound manager and even doing all the instrumentals. She truly was a prodigy.

After the recording ended, Erza doing it several times to get it perfect in one go, she talked to the director about her ideas for the video, and for being the renown strict director, he was very happy to comply to everything that she said. After the deliberation, they got on with the music video:

**I'm back! ;p Just wanted to say that I'll describe the setting of the music video, then how Gray and Erza say or do or act or whatever and then I'll write the lyrics :) And yes, this is an original song and blah blah don't steal it, although I highly doubt anyone would xD! Anyway, it's a slow song, just to warn you (except for one part, but I'll tell you when it changes tempo ;))**

~The music video begins with Erza walking into a coffee shop while looking at the watch, and there is a close up on the watch that indicates that it's twelve in the morning. Erza and Gray lock eyes and a sort of flashback white light takes over the screen.

"Okay, Gray sit there," Erza said while pointing to the chair at the entrance of the door. For the shoot, the director had actually decided to use real sets, instead of investing on the fake ones. Gray complied before slouching and sticking out his tongue. She stuck her tongue out too before wearing her beige jacket, as she was wearing a white, classic dress with conservative diamonds. Gray was wearing a white shirt with suit trousers, his tie untied, making him seem like a business man.  
"Hurry up!" cried Gray, fake yawning.  
"I'll hurry up when you stop being a jerk!"  
"Oh haha, very funny. This might take a long time then!"

"Stop arguing!" said the director. They both shut up and commenced the scene. As soon as they locked eyes, they started squealing in laughter.  
"CUT!" shouted the director. They calmed down after five minutes, and they only had to redo the scene in which they looked each other in the eyes. The second time, they nailed it because Erza had wanted to take it seriously, so she had looked deep into his blue eyes, which were the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. She had been so enveloped in them, that it had taken all her will power to not stare at him.

_"It started at the coffee shop at noon,_  
_I've never fallen in love so soon,_  
_We locked eyes and I saw a gleam, _  
_I wonder to this day was it just a dream?"_

~The next scene, the two main characters hug, kiss, and show as much passion as they can. Then, there are flashing scenes of him cupping her face and them talking, kissing, hugging, over and over again. Finally, the girl is on the floor crying, blood flowing on the carpet as the screen flashes to show her underwater (drowning, while still bleeding) and crying violently, vice versa.

"No way!" said Erza, hugging herself as if violated. "There is no way that I am forcing myself to k..k..kiss this brute!" Erza rebuked.  
"C'mon Scarlet, I know you want to," whispered Gray seductively in her ear, earning him a good and painful jab in the ribs.  
"Okay, fine. Erza, would it be better to just stay as close to him as you can and pretend to kiss?" asked the director, never having faced this problem before. Erza nodded, a bit calmer.

So the shoot went on like that. First, Erza and Gray had to embrace each other while Gray kissed her neck. Erza sat on a bed, and Gray sat beside her. He gave her a look which said, _I would never hurt you, _and she nodded to let him know that she understood, glad that she actually hadn't chosen some random stranger. The director said, "Action!", and they embraced tightly, Gray gently placing tiny kisses on Erza's neck and cheek. Each kiss made her shiver, and she didn't know why she was acting so childishly to his kisses,** (even though she knew that it wasn't because of his cold lips, but something else... cough... cough... pleasure..** **cough...cough...) . **_His lips are just really cold, that's it. _But as he kept on kissing her tenderly, she felt her body temperature rising and her head getting even more of a delusional state by the second, until they had to drop on the bed.  
"And cut! Next, you have to fake kiss each other while trying to pull your clothes off in a hurry."

Erza grew nervous right away, but she learned that breathing deeply actually helped a lot in the business.  
"And action!"  
Gray and Erza pretended to kiss, him occasionally kissing her neck and getting really close to her lips, breathing into them and making their lips face away from the camera, to make the illusion that they were making out. As well as doing that complicated procedure, they also had to fiddle with the zips of Erza's dress and unbutton his shirt and trousers, which was a real pain. Luckily, only one take was needed for this. Then, they simply had to fake kiss, short and sweet kisses. They had to do a few more similar scenes just like this over and over again, each time differently at different camera angles to be used in the video. Finally, they shot a few more scenes before doing one were they just looked into each other's eyes while hugging inside the bed, giving the illusion that they were naked underneath **(don't worry kids, they were wearing their underwear ;) ).**

"Do that again!" shouted the director, enthusiastic by how well the shooting was going. They were way ahead of schedule!  
Gray and Erza began getting extremely close again, just fake kissing, but Gray had different ideas. He started trying to take her clothes off or even trying to pull her pants down. Erza didn't want to be unprofessional, so she kept on getting closer to his ear and insistently repeating, "Stop Gray!" However, he wasn't listening and kept on trying to take her clothes off, until Erza got fed up and started tickling him while making it seem like she was pulling his shirt off, which made the director pleased to have such dedicated actors.

After all the scenes were finished, they had to do some standard scenes like walking with their hands together and pushing each other into a lake and just laughing and having fun. That came very easy to them and Erza was much more comfortable with those scenes.

"Gray, don't you dare!" Erza screamed as Gray tried pushing her in the lake, only this time he had succeeded, but not before she held onto him and they both fell. They laughed like maniacs. Then, still wet, they walked hand in hand, talking about Natsu, Lucy, Gajeel, Levi, Alzack, Bisca, Loke and just everyone they knew, glad that they were blessed with the varied bunch of weirdos. Then, they had to shoot a scene in a canal where they looked at the stars while holding hands, and they still managed to talk non-stop, never running out of things to say. Then, Erza had to sing some parts of the song at different locations like the lake they had previously fallen on, the canal, a bridge and some random buildings.

Finally, Erza had to go into make-up to be coated with fake blood. She sat on the carpet and the director asked her if she wanted fake tears, but she shook her head, her natural talent being sufficient enough to produce tears.  
"And.. Action!" shouted the director. Erza began bawling her eyes out, as the blood trickled down her arms. Everyone was totally captivated by her performance, the pain and anguish apparent in her face, her cry, her tears. The director couldn't even say cut until it was the last possible second, as her performance had truly done something unimaginable to him. He was not a person to like mediocre or even okay acting, but only professional, excellent acting, and he found himself crying at Erza's performance.  
"And cut.." he said in a low, trembling voice.

_"The passion your embrace,__  
__your hands cupping my face,_  
_the endless hours filled with lust,_  
_how did I even trust?.._

_Your lies, my pain I could not explain how torturous it was to be held by the man you love.._

_Your bitter-sweet kisses sent me into space,_  
_how come you weren't easy to replace?_  
_The passion in your veins made me love you all the same,_  
_even though to you it's probably just a game.._

_Hot, sweet, you were mine to keep,_  
_in a relationship full of lust, _  
_and you just let me seep down a crevice,_  
_until I fully become yours..."_

Finally, she could shoot her favourite scenes. Firstly, she had to wear all black and go into the chapel, while a Priest spoke, a coffin in front of him. Erza stayed emotionless, as shown on the script, making sure to not cry, even though her character wanted to. Then, she could shoot the grave scene. She wore all black, including a black fedora, accompanied by a black umbrella. They started the fake rain as she held her umbrella and started singing the song, her eyes gleaming, showing that she was almost about to cry. She spoke the words she needed to before singing the last, high note and dropping the umbrella. She put a rose on the fake grave she had been singing to and started to walk away, a tear rolling down her face, before some girl wearing a black dress and holding an umbrella walks opposite her to the grave, wearing a glove with a ring and holding a rose in the other hand. She places it on the grave and Erza walks into the distance.

_"But you had to go, leave me alone in the darkness,_  
_the light is gone as well as this song that I sing for you in your grave.._

_[Whispered]_  
_I didn't know you were all alone,_  
_And I'm sorry for pushing you away..._

_[Sang]_  
_I let go of you to free me from my addiction,_  
_but I never knew what festered in you and I just want to say.._

_I'm sorry for all the pain, _  
_I didn't mean to hurt you,_  
_Even though out affair was full of lust,_  
_we... _  
_both.._  
_knew..._

_That it was... _  
_True Romance! **(this is the high note, btw)**_

_[Whispered]_  
_I have lost my happy ending..._  
_forever..."_

The whole crew high-fived each other, glad that they had finished so quickly, so they could edit it to perfection before they could release it to the public. Euphoric, Erza kissed Gray lightly on the cheek, which he actually blushed to. He took hold of her hand and rushed her away, having a surprise waiting for her for all her hard work.

* * *

**The Dragneel/ Heartfilia Apartment 00:00**

Lucy sat on her bed texting everyone about Erza's soon to be debut, so glad that she could help her friend. Sure, she was a tinsy bit jealous that her friend was having worldwide stardom, but Lucy wasn't great at singing, so she just stuck to literature, which was much more of her cup of tea. She would make it big in the world her way!

As she continued texting, a beeping from her phone took her away from her text message. She saw that it was...

Jude...

Her father...

She knew that even if she didn't reply, he would keep on calling. And anyways, she had been expecting his call, as she knew that he needed to apologise to her. She remembered her mother's promise and she knew that she honoured her too much that she could not just not keep her promise. Anyway she could keep her relationship with her father and maybe even develop a moderately okay one, which would have been great. She sighed before clicking the answer button.

"Lucy, it's me your father... Please don't speak, I don't want to force you to say anything.. Please meet me tomorrow at three p.m... I need to see you... You know where.." And he hung up, just like that.

Even without explanation, she knew exactly where he wanted to meet her..

Her mother's grave...

* * *

**Lake Magnolia 00:35 a.m**

"Where are we going?" whispered Erza, trying to keep the tranquillity of the lake. At night, it was one of the most beautiful sights. The stars shone brightly, the moon stood in the sky majestically, and the animals came out at night, curious.  
"You'll soon find out," said Gray, his voice low but understandable in the complete silence. He kept on rowing, the old oak boat being a miracle which could keep both their mass afloat. Gray kept on humming, which was a very comforting sound to Erza which had almost lulled her into unconsciousness.

"Almost there," Gray whispered, even though he hadn't whispered before. They arrived at the destination on a little island in the middle of the massive lake, where a gosling was being protected by a fawn. Erza's eyes widened and an "aww.." escaped her lips, making Gray give her an "I told you so," look. She had wanted to elbow him, but to not disturb the peace, she quickly glared at him before looking back at the gosling and fawn. The fawn kept on stroking the gosling with its muzzle, and they both watched in silence.

"I've been watching them for three days, and the gosling has finally healed. The fawn has always been there, trying to comfort the gosling... You remind me of the gosling, always needing to be protected, even though you have no support from anyone, especially your parents.." Gray whispered.  
"Then I suppose you are the fawn, right?" she whispered while rolling her eyes.  
"Yep!" he whispered.  
"No, he's way more adorable than you!" she whispered, catching his eye. Gray faced her and contemplated a bit before saying,  
"Did you just call me adorable?" Her mouth went in an o shape before she protested,  
"No! I was simply saying that you were the opposite!"

Because she had shouted those words, the fawn and gosling were alerted of their presence, before going on to ignore them. They both sighed in relief and laughed a bit, glad that they didn't run away.

After a while, Gray started rowing again while Erza enjoyed the midnight wind. A bump on their boat made them halt. They saw a boat, and a person inside it. Gray whispered it before Erza thought it,

"Ultear..."

**And I'm done xD This took way too long because my sister distracted me into watching a great and funny movie xD! Anyways, I hope you enjoy my adorable, amazing, fabulous, trendy, great, beautiful, smart, cool and epic chibis and take risks, they might just change your future into the happiest one you will ever have ;)HUGS! \\(*^-^*)/**

**~Roxanne**


	36. Follow Me

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Heya! :D I know, this is a pretty early update for being a Monday, but I just wanted to write something xD I know, I'm sorry that I keep on neglecting some things, I just want the story to flow but I don't want it to be all predictable and meh! xD... I'm sorry, I'm rambling, but my head it a bit messed up right now xD I guess I'm a bit hyper. Anyway, as you guys know, the story will end soon, but not yet ;p Don't worry ;) So anyways, please tell me any conclusions you want me to tie up or a mystery I've neglected for a while because when I finish BMRAIBYS, I don't want to leave any questions about stuff that happened xD. Anything that you want to know, I will write, so please tell me ;) Thank you again for everything and since I'm kinda delirious, I'll write the shout outs the next chapter, if you guys don't mind :) Also, Erza didn't kiss Gray because she hasn't had her first kiss yet xD.. Sorry, I forgot to mention it :p Sorry, it's probably short :)**

**Grayza Fan: Thank you very much and I hope you like this chapter ;)**

**Grayza Forever: I'm glad you liked it! xD And of course Erza is a star ;p And true, I need her to get in a huge fight :D Can't wait to write it :p! And I'm guessing you like the new addition of Sting ;) Yeah, I wanted someone from Fairy Tail, and I also wanted someone who would have a crush on Erza, so I was just like, "Hey, why not let it be Sting?" :D And I am getting there, don't worry :p And it wasn't a rant at all xD In fact, the longer, the better, I say! :D And thank you very much, I really hope I do get better xD.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter XXXVI: Follow Me**

**Hospital 3:00 AM**

"Beep.."  
"Beep...Beep.."

Lisanna breathed with the oxygen mask, hearing her heart beat on the heart beat monitor. As soon as she had woken up, the doctors had gone berserk and happy, trying to ask her how she felt and what caused her to wake up, but she chose to remain silent. The doctors had ran a few tests on her, and everything seemed to be alright. When they told her she could finally go to school, it had been a huge relief. Sure, she was probably going to be way behind, as she had lost so many years of her life, but now she could really do something with her life. Even though Lisanna would be behind, she knew she would catch up soon as she was ambitious. Being away for so long meant that people would probably not recognise her. She had stared in disbelief at how much she had grown, even if her nutrition had been given to her in a tube. Her hands and feet, once tiny, were now much bigger. She knew Mira would probably not forgive her for a while, but it had to be done.

The thing was that only one person other than her and the doctors knew about her current 'condition', and Mira wasn't part of it. She had refused to contact her sister or brother, or even her parents because she didn't want them to see her so weak. Every day, she struggled to do something that someone normal could do without barely any thought. Every muscle was stiff and it took an enormous amount of concentration and determination that she did not possess to do a simple task such as eating her soup. The nurses looked at her pityingly and tried to give her help, but she would always smile and shake her head before trying over and over again. She needed to do this. For _him.. For us.._

The hardest part of it all was the rehabilitation for her legs. Her whole body felt like it was not her own, so steering it to her will proved too difficult. She tried to walk, but every time she would just walk one measly step before collapsing on the floor, drenched in sweat. She knew that she could take weeks, if not months, to let her legs work again- Lisanna knew there was no time for that. She either had to find a quick solution or push herself to the very depths of hell to get to her goal. So that's what she did.

Every morning, afternoon and evening, Lisanna would try and walk, the poles next to her supporting her and keeping her balance. Every single time, she moved one inch forward, closer to victory. As soon as she pushed herself too much, she knew that she would faint and go unconscious. But that didn't scare her anymore. She had been unconscious for half her life, and there was no way that she was going to let that stop her.

Lisanna kept on walking forward, making tiny steps which probably meant nothing to others, but meant the world to her. She found herself collapsing even more frequently, tubes in her as she breathed after gaining consciousness. She knew that it was progress, but it certainly wasn't enough... _Unless..._

Lisanna rushed on her wheelchair to the rehabilitation room, ignoring the protest from her nurses who had taken care of her all those years.  
She knew what she had to do now - imagine Natsu.

Natsu was her strength, her knight in shining armour. Her goal was to stand so that she could finally see him, her hero with Salmon hair.

Lisanna shakily stood up, trying not to let the prospect of failure frighten her. She held the poles and started walking, slowly, centimetre by centimetre, inching closer to victory. The noisy room stood quiet, trying to see the miracle that they were about to witness. Slowly, carefully, inch by inch, Lisanna was walking. She walked, and walked and walked, imagining Natsu, all grown up, the same smiling eyes, the Salmon hair, the strong muscles from all his fights, the tan from all the travelling, his clothes, old and dirty from his poverty but most of all, his outstretched arms, waiting for her, pushing her on to fight.

Lisanna could feel herself getting closer to him. Slowly. Carefully. She walked, her movements getting a bit quicker, her brain synchronising with her body. Natsu was shining like a star, and Lisanna's smile grew wider and wider. If she tried to reach for him, she was sure she could actually touch him. Slowly. Carefully. But she knew that she would lose her balance if she let go of the pole, so she kept on moving at snail speed, eager to be met by the arms of Natsu and breathe him in and feel his warm skin on hers. Slowly. Carefully...

There was only one more step left, the room in dead silence. What if she fell? Or even stumbled? What would happen if she had no power after all this? She knew there was only one way to find out.  
She took the last step, and she leaped in Natsu's arms. She had forgotten that she had made him up, as he was only a figment of her imagination, so she fell to the floor, and the nurses rushed to help her from the floor. But she wasn't crying. Oh no! She was laughing. She was actually all smiles, having a giggling fit which never stopped, and it was contagious enough to spread throughout the whole room. The tinkering laughter spread smiles through the whole ward, which spread more and more until joy was like a song, being played as everyone's laughter. Someone turned on the radio, and a melodious voice started singing.

Lisanna sat there, her laughter halted, as she was now in shock.  
_No.. It can't possibly be HER.._

_FLASHBACK_

_"Hello?" said a very familiar voice of a certain Salmon haired boy._

_"Heya, I'm back again..."__  
__"Who's this? ..Wait.. Is it really.. you?" asked Nastu in a low voice__  
__"Well, who else would it be? Did you miss me?" she said in a quiet, raspy voice.__  
__"Lisanna!" was all he said before he burst into tears._

_Lisanna explained everything to him, and Natsu never stopped crying. She was glad to hear his voice, even though he wasn't saying anything. After they had finished, they had stayed in silence for several minutes, just glad to be there for each other. Lisanna, however did not know that Mirajane had forgotten to top up her phone, so the call suddenly ended and her battery went dead. She cursed at her sister over and over again for trying to separate her from Natsu even when she wasn't anywhere near. Never mind, she would be able to meet her fated one soon.._

* * *

**The City****  
****(It's probably good if you hear the City by Ed Sheeran, just for the mood ;) /watch?v=9WSXaMoyQuI)**

_Where am I?..__  
__Wait.. that's Gray! Wait up! ...__  
__Huh?__  
__He's holding the hand of some girl... I can only see her back and his back, but it's all in black in white for me except..__  
__The lights!__  
__They are so bright and pretty.._

_I wonder where they are going? I might as well follow them..__  
__Why can't I move my own body? Ugh, move!__  
__Why am I so sleepy and tired, it's all so blurry..__  
__Where are they going?.._

_He's holding her hand, and they are laughing together..__  
__Pull yourself together Erza!__  
__What..What the hell are they doing?__  
__Dancing!?_

_It's raining for goodness sake!__  
__They are getting drenched, but they are still laughing and smiling.. Unbelievable!__  
__Did he just.. kiss her cheek? Who is she?_

_Why are they standing so close?__  
__And why.. Nooooooooooo..._

_He is singing to her..__  
__But.. but he said his voice was only mine.._

_My eyes are getting blurry, but I have to get over it.._

_They are still walking hand in hand to a.. restaurant?__  
__Great! Now I have to suffer through the torture of seeing them eat lasagne.._

_And WHAT! They are feeding each other? What vile humans?__  
__If only I could move in this stupid place and give her a good beating, maybe that will teach her a lesson in better manners!__  
__And oh great! Now, they even dared to order strawberry cheesecakes, and I'm not invited!_

_And now they are walking.. great.. Hand in hand again, really making me think of relationship goals! Not...__  
__Okay, maybe I've been doing too much tumbling and interneting.._

_Wait.. what are they doing?__  
__Why is she tip-toeing, and why is he bending down?..__  
__No..__  
__NO!__  
__STOP!__  
__STOP THIS ABOMINATION RIGHT NOW OR I WILL...!_

Erza wakes up, her eye sight still blurry, but a worried Gray looking at her face as she sways in mid-air, strong hands holding her. Wait..Was what was happening in the dream happening to her in that moment? Before she could find out, she fell right back asleep, realising that the girl was with was actually...  
_Me.._

**And done! I hope you enjoy this short chapter my adorable, amazing chibis and stay lovely and have fun and don't worry, life is stressful, but focus on the positive things that make you happy and stick with them because they will help you through every tough situation you will face :D And please remember to tell me anything I might have forgotten to clarify in the past that you want me to elaborate, this is your story as well as mine ;p HUGS! \\(*^-^*)/**

**~Roxanne**


	37. Her Rage

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: So, I'm back and ready to actually do something in my life xD! I hope you guys are all feeling well :D I want to thank you again so much for helping me to actually write this story and hurry my laziness xD It's thanks to all your support and even just reading this that I can force myself to write and write, even if my eyes bleed or I'm sick because I just really enjoy writing and yeah.. If you haven't guessed yet, I ramble a lot xD.. Thanks again and I hope you enjoy ;)**

**Some stories I enjoyed reading :) :**

**~Fairy Academy( By | Hypocrisy | )****  
**~Fairy cafe (By baka321)**  
**~Cold and Armored hearts (By anonymousreader07)**  
**~Operation Break up Lyrza (By MystiqueRebel)**  
**~I'm in the Band (By The Musical Dragon Tamer)**  
**~The Girls and Their Babysitters (The Pokester)**  
**~The girl who leapt through time (By knightwalker-hime)**  
**~Faster than the speed of love (By Johnnyrottn)**  
**~The list (By Falingten)****

**I'll write more next chapter, I'm just kinda lazy from being sick xD..**

**Grayza forever: Aww thank you! (*^^*) And enjoy your free time! :D And I'm not telling you anything ;p All will be clear as you read on ;)**

**Chapter XXXVII: Her Rage**

**(You should probably refer to chapter 35 :D)**

Ultear stared at them, wondering why the hell they were at the lake. _Together._While Gray had his mouth wide open, stunned to see her, as if she was a ghost from his past, Erza coolly glared at Ultear. Ultear smirked, before rowing her boat away from the pair. She started shaking her head, muttering under her breath, "Foolish." She knew that Gray wanted to escape, but there was no way that it was happening. She knew the lake well, as it was the place she always came to when she needed to reflect on things. Like how she had been when she was younger, how she was now, and how her mother had just abandoned her like that without warning. The only person she had now was her father, but he wasn't listening to her either.

Even if she didn't want to admit it, Ultear felt so alone. She had no one to count on, as friends seemed completely futile to her. All she had ever needed was given to her, and if someone tried to mess with her, she could get her revenge pretty easily. It was simple. Her life had already been planned out even before her birth. To this day, Ultear wondered what would have happened if she had stayed with her mother and Lyon and Gray. Would she have had a heart? She chuckled at the thought. No, Ultear was perfect at one thing, and it was to be heartless. She couldn't afford to be kind to others, or her whole life would have seemed completely pointless. She looked at what she had gotten for Gray, but it could wait.

Ultear was a weird person. Everyone knew her but nobody liked to go near her. The only person who had truly tried to venture in territories that others had failed to do so had been the hated name that Ultear did not like to mention, even in her thoughts. _Erza Scarlet._How did it all go wrong?

_Ultear waved goodbye at her mother, and tears started welling up in her eyes. Her father glared at her before slapping her, disgusted that she had turned so soft after staying with her mother. Ultear instantly stopped crying, vowing to never cry again. It was better that way. As soon as she went back to being daddy's little girl, she was lavished with gifts and she knew that anything she wanted was hers. She couldn't care less about materialistic__possessions, but she kept up the act to impress her father. He looked at her with pride when he saw her, and that made her happier than anything. She knew that she would have to carry the family name, as there was no one else who could inherit her father's property. That was why he was training her to become just like him, but she didn't know if she wanted it. Could she really become the perfect daughter?__  
_Her father had ordered her to have minimal contact with her mother, so she cut off all ties with her and to make the pain of not having a mother, she called her a traitor and a cheat from that day on.. It was easier that way. Ultear grew up more sour, having to keep the act up for at least ten hours a day. The only time she could truly be herself when she went on her keyboard to play music, but her father soon forbade it, saying that it was irritating and stupid. In truth, it was because Ul had taught her and she had also taught Gray, which aggravated her father, for some reason. Every time he looked at Gray, it was like old memories stirred up in him, like seeing someone from his past. He completely despised Gray, but Ultear certainly didn't. He was kind to her, and when she had silently cried, he had been there for her and comforted her during her pain. He hadn't asked why, or how he could help, but he just stayed there silently watching, which had suited Ultear perfectly. The reason she had cried was because she had never wanted to have to face her parents divorcing. She knew it was inevitable, and she also knew about the ongoing abuse that her father had inflicted on Ul, but she had tried to ignore it and fake that everything was okay, so she could have a normal family. But no. The plan went up in flames. And what was she supposed to choose? Having to suffer because there was never enough money or living in luxury? The latter seemed much more appealing. Gray had been kind to her, so he was one of the few people she didn't despise. Even though she clearly showed affection for him, her father always looked at him with contempt, as if he disliked everything about him. Ul always looked at him strangely too, but Ultear could never quite place what it was. All she knew was that Gray was the final straw in her parent's relationship. She should have hated him for that, but she didn't._  
_The years went by, and Ultear became eleven, having a groupie that always protected her when she was in class, making snarky jokes and being nasty to all of the other girls in their year. She had become super popular, and people had to pass through them before they could even dare talk to her. It had been standard routine, but she had felt claustrophobic whenever those girls where around. Even today, she could never remember their names. She sat by a riverbank, throwing stones at the water. The water was so pretty, and it reminded her of her mother. She knew that she should not have been thinking about her, but it was kinda hard to ignore your own mother, who gave birth to you and suffered and then died so soon. She hugged her body, a fur coat wrapping her up as she felt the chill of the winter. She had ear muffs to keep her ears warm, but her nose was freezing. Gray would have certainly enjoyed the snow. He would have probably stripped, knowing him! She looked at the sky. Suddenly, she felt a light tap on her shoulder and she jumped out of her skin, falling inside the river. Her vision was blurry as she froze underwater, and a girl kept on saying sorry several times, but it all seemed very distant. She finally resurfaced from the water and gasped, and she started shivering like crazy. Who was this random bitch that had practically pushed her in the river!? She looked into warm scarlet-brown eyes and saw a girl with long Scarlet hair._  
_"I'm so sorry, are you okay?" said the girl with a sweet, quiet voice._  
_"_Do I LOOK like I'm FUCKING okay?! Why did you do that, I'm freezing to my death!" screamed Ultear, trying to get attention, even though only that girl was in the vicinity with her. The Scarlet haired girl just giggled before looking at Ultear in shock and proceeding to wipe her gloved hand under Ultear's eye. Apparently, out of nowhere, Ultear had began to cry. When she realised this, she could not stop and proceeded to bawl loudly while the unnamed girl hugged her tightly and patting her back, whispering softly, "It's okay, it's okay." The unnamed girl looked pretty ridiculous because she was wearing a massive jacket, but it helped keep Ultear warm during the hug. After Ultear had stopped crying, just light sniffles escaping, the unnamed girl moved away from the hug and grinned, which made Ultear also smile. She hadn't done that in a while..__  
_"What's your name?" asked the unnamed girl. Ultear scoffed, which made the girl giggle._  
_"If you didn't know, which you should, because it shows ignorance if you don't, I'm Ultear, world famous daughter of a record company CEO."_  
_"That's very impressive, Miss. Ultear," said the girl, curtsying slightly._  
_"Please, not Miss, I'm not that old!" squealed Ultear, as if her crying fit hadn't happened._  
_"Well Ultear, are you okay now? I hope you aren't going to get sick." That's when Ultear realised that she was still in her wet clothes, and she knew she needed to change stat before she caught hypothermia. The Scarlet haired girl took Ultear's hand and they ran into the school, so Ultear could change clothes. Once that was done, the unnamed girl placed a throw over Ultear's shoulders and gave her a cup of hot chocolate that she had no clue where it had appeared from, but had accepted gratefully. As she slowly sipped, the unnamed girl sat next to her and breathed deeply, before having the courage to unbutton her jacket. Ultear had noticed that several times, the girl had tried to take off her jacket, but with no success. Now she was actually doing it, but it truly came to Ultear as a surprise when she saw what was underneath. Tubes, covering her whole chest, as if she was infected with some horrible disease.. She truly couldn't be a normal girl._  
_"What's your name?" whispered Ultear, curious about why she had so many tubes sticking out of her._  
_"Erza... My name is Erza," she replied. Erza... Ultear liked the name. It was very pretty, in her opinion. They sat there in silence as Ultear finished her hot chocolate, and then smiled broadly at each other when Ultear had a chocolate moustache. They giggled uncontrollably until their stomachs hurt, and Ultear abruptly stopped to check if her new friend was okay. Erza just laughed it off, saying that she didn't need any help. They didn't talk for the rest of the afternoon, enjoying watching the snowfall. When it was eight o' clock, Erza said she had to leave and deftly left. Ultear didn't even get the chance to say goodbye. Ultear didn't know if she would be lucky enough to meet her..._  
_But luck was in her favour, and she met her the day after, the same spot._  
_"What's up?" greeted Erza._  
_"The sky," Ultear replied, which made Erza giggle and roll her eyes simultaneously. They talked for hours, and the days after that. They continued on like this until around three months later, Ultear noticed that the tubes were gone. Ultear asked Erza about them, but Erza stayed quiet, not telling Ultear anything. This made Ultear angry that her friend didn't trust her, so she went on to ignore her for a week. The day after, she went to the same place they had met for three months and she was there. She looked so ethereal, too gorgeous for the world. Ultear had wondered why no one had ever asked her for a modelling contract. As she approached her, Erza began singing quietly to herself, clearly not expecting Ultear to come. Even though she was mumbling, Ultear was star struck by her voice. She stood, frozen, as she listened to her friend. Erza turned around mid note to find her friend staring at her. Ultear was her only friend, and she was Ultear's only friend. Ultear sat down next to her and put her head on Erza's shoulder before mumbling sorry. Erza said nothing to that, so they just stayed in silence. Erza then mumbled something, and something snapped inside of Ultear. She never knew that she could be so angry, but she truly was. HOW COULD SHE!? Ultear slapped the person she had thought was her best friend before stomping off, vowing never to see her again. She planned on ambushing Erza with her groupie and making sure she_ _suffered__..__

Ultear still remembered the words that she had mumbled, and they disgusted her every time. To think that she actually wanted to be friends with that bitch! She would pay, and Ultear knew that she would make every one of her living days utter misery. She was not a forgiving person, so Erza had known what she had gotten herself into as soon as she had said those words. Some days, when Ultear was truly alone and deep in her thoughts, she wondered if revenge was worth it.. She wondered why she said those things, when she probably hadn't meant them. _What was going through your head, Erza Scarlet?_

Ultear remembered that she had to collect something important at the law offices. She got off the boat and drove there, hoping to not see anyone familiar. She asked for what was stated in the contract when she was of age, and she collected it. She smiled slowly, a genuine smile that she hadn't used in a while. She realised that the only time she genuinely smiled was when she had been friends with _her.._She shook her head, compelling the thoughts away.

She drove to Gray's house to give him what she had gotten. She rang the doorbell, but no one was home. Ultear sighed before taking off her Prada heels and all her necklaces as well as bracelets before climbing the rusty pipe. She couldn't believe she had been lowered to this standard, touching dirty things! If only he had given her the spare key, like she had asked several years ago. After all, it was technically her house too as the daughter of Ul. She then tried opening the second floor window, but it wouldn't budge. She hitched up her skirt and climbed up on the roof. She squealed internally at how dirty her clothes had become. Once she was home, she would replace them right away. She crawled like a baby towards the attic window, where she knew the window was always open. She entered the attic in complete darkness, and she wiped her clothes carefully. She felt around for the door, stumbling and bumping into things several times. She had finally reached the door to find that she had new bruises practically covering her whole body. She may as well not have come, if this was the abuse that she was going to get by inanimate objects!

She saw a distant light glimmer, so she knew that one of the two brothers were home. She ran her fingers through her hair before walking down the stairs, perfectly poised. As she was about to say, "Welcome ba-" she saw Gray.

And he was holding Erza in his arms.

**And done :D Didn't plan this one to be quite so long, but I really like writing in Ultear's point of view :). Hope you enjoyed it and stay safe my adorable little gorgeous chibis who light up my world :3. HUGS! \\(*^-^*)/ And remember to love your parents/family because they care for you and will always be there for you (even if you aren't blood related to them ;) ).**

**~Roxanne**


	38. Letters

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: I know, two chapters in a day, crazy right?! xD But I actually have a very good reason for this ;p You'll understand soon enough :D Anyways, I hope you enjoy :D I don't actually have a lot to say so yeah xD... If you like Grayza fanfics and want to share them, please tell me so I can give shoutouts to your favourite authors/stories ;) Thank you again for reading BMRAIBYS :D I'm not writing any shoutouts now because I just don't want to put in the effort of looking at tiny letters on my screen xD... I think it's going to be pretty short, but also very important ;)**

**Chapter XXXVIII: Letters**

**Dragneel/Heartfilia Apartment - Next Day, 7 AM**

Lucy and Natsu snuggled up in bed together, enjoying the feeling of warmth. Even though they had had practically no hope at the beginning, things were actually working out. Even if for Lucy it was very small in comparison to her mansion, Natsu found it perfect and definitely large enough. Lucy shivered at the thought of her boyfriend having to sleep in tiny rooms everyday when he was only young. Lucy didn't think that she could survive in those circumstances, because she had been pampered all her life.

All of a sudden, Natsu kissed Lucy softly on the cheek, which made her blush madly. She certainly hadn't gotten used to the whole boyfriend thing, even though she did enjoy it immensely. Natsu was actually the perfect boyfriend for her, always there, kind and caring. Moreover, he was pretty fit, and he definitely passed in the looks department, not that Lucy was shallow. It was a nice bonus. Natsu was also a very impulsive boyfriend, so he would never hesitate to do something sweet or something that would make her heart race. Lucy didn't know how to be a good girlfriend. All she knew how to do was be there for him, and occasionally kiss him when she got the courage or he was being way too adorable.

Now, she kissed him on the cheek, savouring every second of it. Natsu slightly blushed, as he was better at controlling his blood flow. Lucy had learned that Natsu was pretty bad when it came to transportation when they had gone on their first ever date and he had gone green on every ride, as if he was about to vomit. Luckily, he didn't, and the night went splendidly. Sometimes, she really worried for her boyfriend. He was always getting tangled in thoughts about his father. That was the unspoken word in their household... _Father._

They both had less than spectacular relationships with their fathers, so they knew that they needed to work on it, but they didn't know how. Especially Natsu, who didn't even know where his father was. Every day, the couple spent their days wallowing in regret about their past and the things that they could have done, but they both knew that it was useless to contemplate on things and actions that had already been done. Nonetheless, those thoughts were inevitable, and came frequently. Their relationship was based on love and mending. They mended each other's broken hearts while loving each other as much as they could, because they had not received love from their fathers. At least once a month, they cried in each other's arms at how unfair the world was for putting them through so much heartache, and it was very therapeutic.

They stared at each other's eyes, trying to figure out what the other person was thinking. Every day, they would wake up smiling at each other, and in the night smiling at each other again before they fell asleep. Their relationship made them stronger as people, and it showed in how much their confidence levels had risen. Natsu had made more friends that he could talk to, and he saw everyone as family, because he had truly never had one. Lucy had also become much happier, fuelling her love for Natsu to write romantic novels and even an autobiography, to record everything that happened to her. It was dedicated to her mother, and she wrote it for her. She didn't just write about herself, but about her friends and what happened on a daily basis. The amount of gossip and drama was truly incredible, but Lucy didn't know whether she wanted to publish the autobiography. It was like a special diary that she wanted to keep hidden from the world, except for Natsu.

Natsu hoisted himself up and stretched, which made him flex his muscles. Lucy unconsciously licked her lips, and Natsu caught her in the act. She hid her face behind her hair, and Natsu laughed loudly. After the embarrassment had slowly seeped away, Natsu took Lucy's chin and kissed her softly on the lips. Even though they kissed like this once almost every day, it felt like the first kiss each time. The tingly feeling and the after taste made it all the sweeter. She didn't think that she would be so lucky as to find her soul mate so quickly. There was no doubt that he was meant for her, and she was meant for him. She knew that she would do anything for him, even if it seemed impossible. And she was absolutely sure that he loved her exactly the same way, and it was completely true.

"So, do you have your part time job today?" asked Lucy, her face inches away from his.  
"Yeah, but it's in the afternoon Luce. You?" he replied, a huge smile on his face.  
"Yep, but it's at noon. I was thinking.."  
"Yes Lucy?"  
"Well... Would you like to make cupcakes with me? I have some cake mix I bought to make cupcakes for everyone at work, but I never actually had the time," Lucy answered shyly.  
"Hell yeah!" screamed Natsu enthusiastically, which made Lucy beam. Happy then jumped onto the bed, looking very tired.  
"He must have tried going to Carla again yesterday.." whispered Lucy, trying not to awake the Blue cat. Natsu stroked his fur while saying,  
"Yeah, but I'm sure he's fine! After all, he's Happy, the best cat in the world!"  
"Shush! He's trying to sleep Natsu!" Lucy whisper shouted, hoping that Happy could get his rest. Natsu looked really sorry before putting his finger to his lips, as if to signify that he would be as silent as possible.

They kissed each other once more before jumping off the bed and wearing comfortable clothes. Then, they wore their aprons.  
"Luce, why does mine have to be pink?" cried the Salmon haired boy, glaring at his girlfriend.  
"Because it matches your pink hair Natsu! And now we have matching aprons," she said while having a giggling fit. Natsu threw flour at her and she looked at him in disbelief.  
"Jerk!" she shouted before cracking an egg on his head several times.  
"Stop Luce, stop! Okay, I give up, you win, just stop hitting me!" he kept on saying while bent over like the hunchback of Notre Dame as Lucy attacked him. She finally stopped and laughed, and he laughed to.  
"We should stop messing around with the ingredients, or we won't have any left for extra!" said Lucy.  
"Wait.. Extra?" asked Natsu, his eyes sparkling.  
"Well, unless you don't want one for you and me.." said Lucy mysteriously.  
"What are we waiting for?!" Natsu fist bumped the air before wearing the pink apron that Lucy had given him. They started mixing the dough and putting in the ingredients, Lucy making sure that she measured them right. They had too much fun doing the simple tasks, Natsu messing around quite frequently and trying to tickle her or even kiss her on the cheek. She would never admit that she actually enjoyed the chase. Natsu rolled out the dough and put it in the cupcake tray, but before putting them in the oven, he left some dough in the mixing bowl and put chilli pepper on it. A very large dose of chilli pepper... Natsu rolled it out in a pretty odd looking shape before putting it in the oven.

After the oven tinged, signifying that the cupcakes were ready, they both started salivating. They smelt so good, but they knew that they would eat them all if they even touched one. They started on the icing, writing thank you on each of the cupcakes. Then, when it came to the last two, Natsu started icing with red, orange and yellow, the colour of flames for his cupcake. Lucy decided to do something a bit more artistic and draw one of her keys from the Stellar Key collection. Her collection had increased and she was very pleased about it. When they were finally done, they took a bite out of their respective cupcakes, then swapped them around. While Natsu took a big bite out of Lucy's, Lucy only took a tinsy bite out of his, as she knew that any more would burn her tongue. They both tasted absolutely divine, so Natsu and Lucy did a celebratory dance to the song, "Locked out of Heaven," before Lucy gave Natsu a big kiss in the heat of the moment, grabbing his neck and hungrily kissing him. It tasted like cupcakes and pepper, so it was sweet and sour, just like him.

Lucy went to have a quick shower, her whole face red from what she had done a couple of seconds ago. Natsu started cleaning up because he wanted to help Lucy. As he did that, he touched his lips several times to remember the kiss. When she had changed, she hugged Natsu before saying goodbye. Lucy had found a nice job at a coffee shop. It was cute and stylish, and everyone who loved books could enter. There were so many books that Lucy sometimes forgot it was work. She handed out the cupcakes to everyone and they gladly accepted, glad to have such a kind co-worker. They all asked about Natsu, asking risqué questions like if they were ever going to have sex and that sort of stuff. She just blushed and mumbled that she wasn't sure, but they all just gossiped about her love life among themselves. Lucy was a barista there, making and serving the drinks. It wasn't too crowded, so it was a good day. She even had time to drink some tea, which she rather preferred. Coffee wasn't really her cup of tea (no pun intended). She had her break early, so she stepped outside for a few minutes to stretch.

What she didn't expect was to be hit on the head and faint, a dark silhouette being the last thing she saw.

**\\(*^-^*)/**

Natsu had walked outside to do some grocery shopping. He was glad that Lucy was living with him, because the apartment didn't seem so empty anymore. They were making their own memories there, which they knew they would treasure forever. Thanks to both of their income, they could afford to decorate the apartment and make it their home. It was amazing to see the transformation, and every time he came back home, he couldn't stop smiling.

As Natsu was walking towards the grocery shop, he saw a car in his peripheral vision driving closer to him until they were right next to him. This was his cue to run, but they caught up with him quickly and gagged him, making whatever sleeping adhesive they had put in the handkerchief that was covering his mouth make him go unconscious.

...

Natsu woke up a mile away from him house, his muscles aching terribly. He felt as if someone had kicked him in the gut. One thing that he was glad for was that when they had put him in the car, he had been asleep, so he didn't need to throw up. Just the thought of being in the car made him almost gag. He searched his pockets for the money, hoping that they hadn't stolen it. Luckily for him, it was there, but there was something else... A letter. He looked at the back and he saw one word which he couldn't comprehend for a few minutes...

_From Dad_

Natsu teared the letter open and read it over and over. It was two _fucking_sentences, but it was really him...

_I want to meet you son at 11 PM in a week. You know where._

_Of course I know where,_ Natsu thought to himself.

**\\(*^-^*)/**

Lucy woke up only a few minutes later. There was a small bump on her head, but nothing that she couldn't hide. She searched her body for any more bruises, but she felt fine. Who could that have been? She searched her pockets to check if anything was stolen, but all she could feel was something unfamiliar. She pulled something out of her pocket and she realised that it was a letter. She opened it, already knowing who it was from. After all, how could she not know her unique stationary that she had invented?

_Lucy. I really need to see you, but I can't meet you right now. Please wait a few weeks until I can escape. I am in a very bad situation right now. I know you may not like to hear this, but I've gone bankrupt. All my friends have betrayed me at the blink of an eye. I am in hiding, as my enemies are trying to kill me. Lucy, please stay safe. I'm sorry that I could only give you money, and now I don't even have that. Please wait for me..__  
_Your Father,__

_Jude_

_You stupid dad, I don't need your money to love you.._ Lucy thought, tears cascading down her cheeks.

**I hope you liked this chapter :D Some awaited Nalu fluff as they are one of my favourite pairings ;p Hope you stay heart warming to others my adorable little chibis and make sure to at least make one person smile, even if you don't know them well, because you might just be saving a life ;) HUGS! \\(*^-^*)/ XXXXX**

**~Roxanne**


	39. Secrets & Confessions

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Yes, I know, I'm on a roll ;) Yep, I'm updating yet again. I'm updating quite early in the morning because I need to go to the cinema with my family to watch The Age of Adaline. It seems like a beautiful storyline, and I'm all about the romance ;p! I logged in this morning and I was overwhelmed by all your reviews, so thank you! :D I can't wait for you guys to find out the conclusion of this story :D I say it's close, but not that close xD We still have a bit of the plot line to go through, so please bear with me :D Thank you again and here are some more shoutouts :):**

**These are stories that are varied, so it's not all Grayza ;):****  
****~Secrets Unrevealed (By lildragongurl)****  
****~Strawberry Cheesecake (By naul)****  
****~Ghost Hunt Repeated Past (By xtealoverx)[Ghost hunt fanfic]****  
****~All stories by By Aky-san****  
****~Tongue Tied (By Akane Izo)****  
****~The Dragon and His Princess (By decieveingeyes)****  
****~fairy tail: happy new year (By bella-romeo)****  
****~All stories by NxLFlamingKey****  
****~All stories by Blood Secrets****  
****~All stories by PressTheResetButton****  
****~All stories by rkfollower****  
****~Of Scarlets and Grays (By BelleIllumina)****  
****~Forgetting the Shivers (By Fallen Angel Codester)****  
****~All stories by amehanaa****  
****~All stories by EternalBlaze5****  
****~Living with You (By Sura-chan)****  
****~3,000 (By huntingtimeconsultingthings)****  
****~All stories by spadesToStars****  
****~Bounty Hunting (By Nykh) [Kaichou Wa Maid-Sama fanfic]****  
****~All stories by Genie For Your Wish****  
****~All stories by IcePrinceRay****  
****~All stories by JcL107****  
****~All stories by Thunder Explosion****  
****~All stories by Maelstrom Alert [Hetalia fanfics]****  
****~A heartbreaking bet (By guardianfairy)****  
****~All stories by Mr.J. Valentine**

**This is all for now xD.. I spent a bit too much time on this ;p Anyways, time to answer reviews! :D**

**Grayza forever: I'm glad that I didn't make her ooc :D And don't worry, you will find out pretty soon what she said to Ultear ;) And MUHUHAHAHA! ;) Yes, I did actually change the river scene to Ultear and Erza, and not Gray and Erza (although the circumstances are very different). It's just because I didn't want to do it the same like all the other fanfictions of Grayza xD I get it's a monumental moment and one of the reasons we ship Grayza, but I thought that that scenario could have a rest and be used maybe in a later fanfiction xD Sorry, but it had to be done ;p.**

**Grayza Fan: I'm glad that you like the quick updates ;) And Jellal was never meant to be the manager of Erza! xD I'm adding him as a completely different character to the story, don't you worry ;) I had planned long ago what where he was going to be placed in this fanfiction :). He is definitely in this fanfiction, and he certainly won't be the evil heartless boyfriend from ages ago that broke her heart and just made her have endless nightmares! xD**

**Thank you again for all your lovely reviews and I hope you enjoy ;)**

**Chapter XXXIX: Secrets &amp; Confessions**

**Hargeon Town 3:55 PM**

Mirajane sunbathed by the port, an umbrella shading her as well as sunglasses to protect her eyes while she drifted into sleep. Mirajane had been lucky, and she knew that very well. Getting a vacation was something that several famous people tried, and failed to do. As she had been so in demand, she knew that the only way to get her break was to quickly quit all those jobs that would take up her time and then go on vacation. Mirajane knew she could have chosen a much more exotic location, but the port town was simple and perfect for relaxation. Every day, she cheered on the fishermen and even caught a few fish at dawn, as fishing had become part of her daily routine. Then, she sunbathed for a while before window shopping and talking to the locals. It definitely wasn't an extravagant holiday, but it was simple and fun in its own way.

And there was one more thing Mirajane could celebrate about: she finally stopped having those nightmares. After over a decade of squirming in her sleep trying to rid herself of what happened when she was little, it had finally stopped. She didn't know if it was because of her stress levels decreasing, or because she took this holiday or..._ No. It couldn't be_. Mirajane remembered that little girl with the beautiful voice had entered her dream the day when she had arrived at Hargeon, and she had remembered her sweet voice, which had lulled her into pleasant dreams... _Maybe it really was her.._

Mirajane had an idea of who that little girl was. After all, she couldn't have had that striking_ Scarlet hair_ that only one person she knew had. Nevertheless, Mirajane now smiled all the time, her heart finally joyful after all the years of torment in her life. Mirajane then made her way to her hotel room, which was decorated like a cake shop. It was colourful and quirky, just what she had needed in her life. Mirajane had promised herself not to look at her phone, because she knew that if they had tried to contact her, she would go back right away and forget that she needed the vacation. Now she was more at peace, she thought that she could finally check her texts and missed calls. She searched everywhere; in her pockets, in her purse, in her luggage, but to no avail. Then, a memory struck inside Mirajane like a forgotten musical note.

She remembered being in a rush to go, forgetting to take her phone from Lisanna's hospital bedroom. She instantly started cursing herself. No doubt that her sister had probably already contacted Natsu and tried to be his friend again. Mirajane bit her lip nervously and plopped herself down on her bed. She knew that her plan to keep Lisanna away from Natsu would be short term and futile, but it was the only thing that she could have thought of. There was a reason why she was so abstinent to keep Natsu away from her sister. She loved her sister with all her heart, but Natsu needed to be protected from her. Major bad things could happen if Lisanna wasn't stopped. She quickly turned on her computer monitor next to her bed and went on her emails, just to find that the hospital had released Lisanna and her parents as well as Elfman were taking care of her. _This isn't good..This isn't good at all..._

_Mirajane cracked her knuckles as she had made a great profit that day. Lisanna had cheered on Natsu the whole time like a supportive little fangirl, which had made Natsu fight even better than usual. After all the matches had ended, Mirajane patted Natsu's shoulder and said, "Well done," and the young Salmon haired boy beamed brightly._ _It was so easy to make Natsu smile, and Mirajane knew that she never wanted to see it taken away. Lisanna jumped on him and gave him a huge hug, which he returned gladly. Mirajane thought that they would make a great couple because of how adorable they acted around each other, but that would soon change...__  
__As Lisanna and Mirajane walked back home, hand in hand, Lisanna mumbled something.__  
__"Sorry, what? I couldn't hear you Lisa," said Mirajane with a huge grin on her face._  
_"I want Natsu to be mine forever. I don't want him to love anyone else. He already loves me, so why does he have to show affection to others? Mira, he's my property. I'm sorry sis, but if you get in the way of him showing full affection for me, then I might just have to kill you..." Lisanna said, her voice a quiet whisper that penetrated through Mirajane. Mirajane knew she was serious, and a dark aura emanated from her sister. She could feel the grip on Lisanna's hand on hers getting tighter, and she begged her sister to stop. Lisanna finally snapped out of it and apologised several times for what had happened, but Mirajane had said it was fine... Even though it really wasn't. She could still vividly see the nail marks on her skin the day after, and a few days after that. To cover it up to not rouse any suspicions, she had put a bandage and said that she had acquired it during a fight. It hurt every day that it remained on her skin, and Mirajane didn't know what to do. It was clear that Lisanna wasn't in love with Natsu, but in love with his devoted affection to her and only her. Natsu was like a lost puppy, having no one to rely on but her. It wouldn't do either of them any good to stay together, but Mirajane knew that if she tried to separate them, she would probably get murdered in her sleep with no hesitation. What could she do?... _  
_Sometimes. Just sometimes, when she was too desperate for an escape, she wished her sister had gotten into an accident... Just sometimes..._

Every time Mirajane had those evil thoughts, she felt consumed by disgust at herself for even thinking that. And after the accident, Mirajane had hated herself even more because something terrible had actually happened to her sister. Secretly, she had felt a slight relief that her sister would be permanently separated from Natsu, but she never told this to anyone. She felt evil and vile, but the thoughts just wouldn't disappear.

Mirajane shook her head and knew what she had to do to clear those disturbing thoughts- she had to go outside. She left her bag and any possessions she knew she wouldn't need like jewellery and her purse and took only her key and a bit of money with her. She didn't need to change clothes as it would still be warm outside and it wasn't that rare that people wore bikinis outside while walking on the street. She took a shawl just in case before taking a walk towards the port. Mirajane knew that she needed to do something different from her daily routine, and looking at the port, she had the perfect idea. She walked over to the port and entered the ship that was about to leave. She decided to go on the top deck and look at the sea.

What she didn't expect was to see someone also on the top deck.  
"Oh..Excuse me, I'm so sorry mister. I'll just lea-"  
"No, stay. You are very welcome. After all, it's not like I own this ship!" said the young man standing in front of Mira, who had turned around to face her. His humourless laugh made it seem like he was being kinda sarcastic, like maybe he did own the ship, but Mirajane couldn't be too sure. Her eyes widened, seeing his blue hair and tattoo on his eye reminded him of someone, but she just couldn't place it one bit...  
"Excuse me, if I may ask, but what's your name?" asked Mirajane. She saw him visibly gulp and fiddle with his clothes, trying to make it look much more neater (even though he didn't need to), as if he was stalling for time.  
"Erm.. Uh.. My name is.. My name is Mystogan," he said with uncertainty. Mirajane reached out her hand to shake his and said, "Nice to meet you, Mystogan, my name is Mirajane, but you can call me Mira."

And that is how Mirajane met 'Mystogan'.

* * *

**Connell Residence - 7PM**

For a couple of days now, the Connell parents had realised that their children had been acting weirdly. They used to always talk to each other and spend every second with each other, but now they tried to avoid each other as much as possible and not even look at each other. They didn't even want to join in during family outings if the other was going. They knew that something wasn't right, but they couldn't figure out what. Could it be that they just started hating each other because of pubescent mood swings?..

Well, whatever it was, they wanted to sort it out as quickly as possible. And the only way to make them talk was during dinner, when they were both forced to eat together with the whole family.

They began eating their meal in silence, the only sound being the cutlery clinking on the china plates. No one dared to speak, so Mrs. Connell knew she had to take the lead.  
"So, Bisca, would you mind telling me what's going on with you and your brother?" At this, Bisca's expression darkened and she looked like she had completely snapped, but if she had something to say, she kept it inside of her. Then, Mr. Connell assisted his wife with the questioning,  
"You too, boy. What the fu- pardon my language, is going on? You used to be inseparable, and now you are fighting like cats and dogs!" Alzack banged his fists on the table loudly, before recommencing eating his food, and Bisca did the same. The Connell parents sighed, confused why their children couldn't just say whatever was on their mind. Mrs. Connell already knew about Bisca's feelings for Alzack, and she hadn't told her husband yet, waiting for her daughter to finally have the courage to tell him. Clearly, something had gone very wrong and now they wouldn't even acknowledge each other's presence. If there was a guidebook on how to let your adoptive child confess to your son, she would gladly have bought twenty copies of that book. Sadly, the world wasn't so advanced yet, so she had to rely on yahoo answers, which wasn't the greatest thing to use for such a situation, if she had to say so herself.

"Bisca! If you don't say what you need to say now, I will break my vow to you and tell your father!" Mrs. Connell threatened, tired of playing games. Teenagers these days were either too quick at falling in love and just wanted the sex, or they would take forever to confess because they didn't know how to, as true love was hard to find among teens.  
"Mum, no! Please don't tell him!" Bisca begged, confused stares coming in her direction from her adoptive father and adoptive brother. All she got from her mother was a knowing but stern stare, urging her to speak her mind.

"I'M IN LOVE WITH ALZACK! I'VE BEEN IN LOVE WITH HIM PRACTICALLY ALL MY LIFE AND I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO SEND ME BACK THERE BECAUSE I WAS SO LONELY, YOU WERE THE PERFECT FAMILY FOR ME! I DIDN'T WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE, BUT I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO FIND OUT I WAS IN LOVE WITH MY OWN BROTHER, SO I HID IT FOR SO LONG! IT'S BEEN CONSUMING ME LIKE CRAZY AND THEN I KISSED HIM AND I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO SPEAK TO HIM BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO BE REJECTED," Bisca screamed to practically the whole world, her face completely red from the amount of effort she had exerted. She slowly opened her eyes to find her adoptive father shaking his head with a smile on his face while her adoptive mother was grinning like a fool, Alzack being the only one in complete shock. It was obvious that Mr. Connell had clearly known all along. Then, the whole family turned in his direction and his father elbowed him in the ribs, hoping he would respond to Bisca's passionate love confession.

"Erm.. I ... I.. Lo..Love.. you too Bisca," he mumbled shyly, which made Bisca blush even more (if that was even possible). The parents high fived each other and congratulated the new couple. Mr. Connell looked sad for a moment before he composed himself and sat beside Bisca, holding her shoulder with his hand.  
"You know what this means, right?" he said. Bisca just nodded, prepared for what was about to happen. She had been ready a while ago.  
"I will have to formally disown you from this family.. You are no longer my child, but someone elses'." He said while tears brimmed in his eyes. That was the hardest part of it all, not being able to be the daughter of such amazing parents. Then, Mr. Connell started laughing and said with teary eyes,  
"But guess what? At least you will still keep the family name and be my daughter in law!" The two Connell parents started laughing whole heartedly, while the new couple just blushed deeply, secretly holding each other's hands underneath the table.

**Done! :D Sorry it's been uploaded so late, I came back at like 10 PM because the movie started at 5:40 and ended at 8, so it took two hours to get home xD.. But it was still so romantic and sweet and gah the sad and happy emotions I felt! x3. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'm pretty sure I'll be getting reviews about that MYSTerious person ;p (Not so subtle..But hey! Whoever said I was ;)?) Have an amazing day and stay happy and don't worry, you will find true romance soon in your life, whether it will take one month, one year or even a decade, but you will eventually find your soul mate ;) Don't give up on love, it's what's keeping us alive :p Stay happy my adorable little chibis and CIAO! Hugs! \\(*^-^*)/ xxxxx**

**(P.s. Who do you want Mirajane to go with? I know her with Freed or Laxus is pretty popular, but I want your opinion :))**

**~Roxanne**


	40. The Past is Catching Up

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Okay, so this is finally chapter 40! :D What up life achievements! You know what that means? ;) I bet you do: Over 10k! And the reason that I did this today was because it's the 25/5/2015.. I guess you can see the insane amount of fives :D 5x5=25, 5x1=5 and 5x3=15.. Yeah.. You can see how the number five is pretty monumental in my life xD.. But I hope you enjoy this chapter and stay happy :D No shoutouts on this chapter as it's already over 10k xD...Btw, if anyone can make a cool cover page for this fanfic I'll be forever indebted to you! It's just that I can't draw on the computer and I don't have a drawing tablet, so my only option is relying on you.. sorry x3**

**Chapter XL: The Past is Catching Up...**

**Fairy Tail - 8 AM (Day after Chapter 38)**

The whole school sat in their respective classes, noise spreading in every direction. They were all as lively as ever, the teachers having a pretty hard time controlling the students. Probably the liveliest class was where our protagonists stayed in, one chatting away and acting like he was the prince of the world while the other stayed quiet, pensive. Since her debut, Erza had been recognised wherever she went, paparazzi hunting her down like rabid dogs. As well as them, there were also several thousand people who asked her for autographs every time they spotted her. She had to even wear a disguise to go into school! She knew that she had become quite popular, but she didn't think that practically everyone knew of her existence. Even elders and parents stopped her in the street just to take a picture with her. Erza wasn't really into the whole selfie thing, but she had liked everyone who had talked to her and had genuinely smiled for them. It was hard to keep up, but Erza loved a good challenge. She knew that she was not the sort of person to not talk to every single individual, because she appreciated every one of her fans. She smiled every time she thought about how kind they were to her and how supportive they were. For some reason, she hadn't encountered anyone who hated her music, which was very weird in the music world. There were always people hating on musicians and artists, it was inevitable, but it hadn't happened to her. For that, she considered herself very lucky. Her manager, Sting, had even suggested to get her bodyguards for school. As you can imagine, Erza instantly refused that idea, knowing that she didn't need protection from anyone as no one would try to harm her (except her enemies, but she knew she was strong enough to beat them).

As she had been lost in thought, she felt two piercing blue eyes looking at her own. She suddenly snapped out of it to find Gray kneeling in front of her desk, his arms crossed on her table. He had a cocky smirk on his face, but that was understandable. Because of the music video, Gray had become mega popular. All the comments had complimented her debut single before saying how "hot," and "cool" and "buff" and "fit" the guy in the music video was. Erza had snorted at all those comments, always shaking her head. She really should have chosen someone else, as Gray's popularity had boomed, as well as his already inflated ego. Moreover, which made Erza want to gag, everyone who knew them thought that they were a couple and all the scenes in the video were real. Erza vehemently denied all accusations of that, saying that it was thanks to the director's skill. But Gray had to make it worse by saying that it was also his skill at love making, which earned him a huge kick in the gut, which made him collapse on the floor and go into A&amp;E. He was fine, but Erza was still pretty angry at him, as all the rumours revolved around them.

"You okay?" Gray whispered in the chaotic noise. Erza smiled and nodded, hating Gray for always acting so caring.  
"Erza, say the truth," said the Raven haired teen, his eyes stern and cold. Erza was shocked by how quickly he could go from smiling to ice cold. Sometimes, it felt like he was too out of reach, the invisible spikes preventing her to get closer to his heart, to what he really felt. Erza sighed, tired from everything. While she was truly happy, nothing could get past Gray.  
"That man with the grey hair, Erigor, has made my schedule full to the max, even though I'm still in high school. He has already released to the press that I will be releasing an album, even though I haven't even recorded anything. That's why he said that I had to write at least fourteen more songs by tomorrow, as well as have an image for my album. I already know what I want to do, but with all the meet and greets, appearances on TV shows and the news, interviews and photo shoots, as well as so much more, I never have the time to fully immerse myself in my music. I can never cancel any of the jobs because the CEO has ordered for me to do all of them, or they will fire me. The day after tomorrow, they will verify the songs and then I have to record all of them, even though my voice is getting sore from the amount of times I've had to sing this week alone. I'm not a quitter, and I won't give up, but what can I do?..." whispered Erza, her true thoughts finally making it out of her mind and out of her mouth. Gray gently held the hand that had been gripping the table while she had been in thought. His cool hand helped her think a bit more and she visibly calmed down. She smiled at him before mouthing "Thank you," and he got up and went back to his seat. When the class had finally quieted down, all eyes were on Erza.

Just to put it into perspective, imagine that your favourite singer ever is the same age as you and they are sitting in the same room as you, in your school, out of all the others in the country, even in the whole world. That is how they felt, staring at Erza Scarlet, their former Student Council President, their Student Council member and idol. It was like a dream come true, so they couldn't help but stare at her, even though most of them were too shy to talk to her. The only people who weren't in this fan girl state were her friends who had always been there for her. She was glad that they at least acted normal around her, as now nobody looked at her with fear, but with total admiration. Erza wished that they would stop looking at her like that, as she couldn't order them around anymore as harshly as before or even hit them, but be gentle and polite. Erza sighed once more, and she saw her fans in the class visibly hold their breath.

"Please stop holding your breath, or you will die!" she ordered with a calm, commanding voice. All that did was make them squeal and jump around excitedly. She sighed again, not knowing what to do. They were probably hopeless causes...

The door flew open, and a man with a suit walked up to the teacher. Fear gripped Erza's heart, and she breathed deeply in and out. Erza did not want to go to work at school. Not now.. The only place she was truly free from work was school, and she didn't want that to be taken away from her. Gray saw this and threw a rubber at her, which earned him a death glare, which just made him chuckle.  
"Erza, he isn't from your company. See? He doesn't have the company logo," he said. In fact, Erza did see, and she let out a sigh of relief. Gray went back to resting his eyes, as he knew that the Scarlet haired girl was fine for now.

"I am here to select a few of your students to do a very special social experiment. This is something that only privileged students get to do, so it would be a waste to not do it. If I call out your name, please stand,  
Gray,"  
Gray clapped his hands and rubbed them together, glad he could escape the boring lesson. Like the show off he was, he stood up slowly and scanned the room, which gave room for the girls to scream his name and faint at his supreme hotness **(jerk -.-)**

"Nastu,"  
Natsu jumped up straight away, a huge, crazy smile on his face. He cracked his knuckles together... He was going to have a lot of fun.

"Lucy,"  
Lucy shyly stood up, a happy smile plastered on her face. She didn't really want to do the experiment, but she wanted to be with Natsu.

"Cana,"  
"Hell yas!" screamed Cana, which made the class giggle. She was happy that the school had allowed her to stay, even though she was pregnant, but it was so _boring!_

"Erza,"  
Erza stood up calmly, a light blush on her face. She didn't like doing things she was prepared for, but at least she knew her friends were with her. She heard the class squeal and clap loudly for her, which just made her roll her eyes. When would it stop?!

"Hibiki,"  
Hibiki stood up and grinned at his fiancée. Ever since they had her father's blessing, they had done almost everything together.

"Juvia,"  
Juvia stood up and flicked her hair. She didn't really want to do this as it was a waste of time, but at least it could make her stop thinking about Lyon for at least a few hours. Her thoughts had been filled with him and only him, and she had to show restraint to going into the hospital every day, as she only went once a week. She didn't want to seem clingy, but she wanted to show that she cared. After all, how could she go on in her life without seeing the man she loved.

"Levi,"  
Levi was reading a book when her name had been suddenly called out. She was angry at whoever called out her name because the book was at its best bit, and she was finally going to find out who the killer was and if the main character could finally know the identity of her secret lover. She stood up, never taking off her reading glasses or even putting the book down. It was way too thrilling to put down.

"Elfman,"  
Elfman stood up and pounded his chest while saying, "I am a man!" The girls shook their heads in disdain while the guys nodded in approval.

"Loke,"  
Loke flicked his hair and stood up, which made a chorus of girls squeal. Even though he had heavy competition from Gray, his popularity had not been tarnished.

"Gajeel,"  
Gajeel eagerly stood up, even though he didn't show it. He had been worried that he wouldn't be picked because Levi had, so if she was all alone, that stupid Loke might get his nasty claws on her. He had heard about the amount of girls he had slept with, and he didn't want her anywhere near him.

"Alzack,"  
Alzack twirled his cowboy hat before placing it gently on his head while standing up, which earned him an applause from Bisca, which made his face go red like a bell pepper.

"and Bisca,"  
He finally ended, and Bisca high fived her boyfriend. Bisca now had a new family, but they were kind to her and treated her well. Her new surname was, 'Bisca Mulan.' She liked Mr. and Mrs. Mulan, and they treated her as if she was their daughter. They had no children as tragedy had struck them when their daughter, at the age of fifteen, had died during a ship wreck. Apparently, Bisca looked just like her, and only being on year older than their deceased daughter, they had gladly taken her in. Bisca didn't want them to see her as a replacement for their dead daughter, but there was nothing she could do about it for now. Slowly but surely, they would appreciate her as Bisca, and not Bethany. It would take time, but Bisca had patiently waited years for Alzack, she knew that she could wait for as long as it needed to.

"Follow me," said the man in the suit, and they did. Single file, they walked down the long flight of stairs before finally reaching the ground floor, seeing a black, slick limousine with tinted windows on the courtyard. Before they could run to it in their excitement, they had been surrounded at all sides by heavy built men who also wore suits, and they were gagged and sacks were put over their heads. They felt like the situation had spiralled out of control, not being able to see or scream. They felt themselves being hauled and then pain stung throughout their bodies as they crashed into metallic objects. They were clearly in the limousine, but they couldn't even communicate to each other because they couldn't speak or see. They breathed in and out deeply, but that was their grave mistake. A sleeping gas had been placed inside the limousine, where our unfortunate teens lay. The fell asleep soon after.

**\\(*^-^*)/**

The next thing they know, they are tied up in a massive room. There is only one light, and it's in front of them. They are all sitting in single file horizontally, their arms bound by rope. The room is dark and they cannot see what is beyond their feet. At least they weren't gagged, and they could all see each other. They were relieved, but not completely. What could they do? The ropes were tied with master crafting, so it would be almost impossible to break the bonds. Loke gingerly reached for his pocket, where his pocket knife was. He was very glad that he was always equipped, because he always felt like the ghost of _her _was going to come and kill him. As he nearly got a hold of it, it fell from his pocket. It made a loud clanging sound, which earned him a chorus of mutters from the gang.  
"Hey, I'm sorry okay? But if you guys weren't so naive, then we wouldn't be here!" he whisper shouted, blaming them instead of himself.  
"So why the hell are you here then Loke, if you are so good at everything?" mumbled Natsu, which earned him a chorus of approving sounds. Loke groaned before reaching for the knife with his feet. They heard sounds from outside, so Loke tried to speed up the process of picking up the knife. Finally, he had it in between both of his feet and threw it up, using his legs to give himself momentum. The knife perfectly landed in his hands, and he started cutting up the strong bonds._ It will definitely take a while..._ He thought.

Another limousine drove up to them. The limousine stopped short in front of them, which terrified them. What if they had been hit? The driver got out and placed a chair, similar to theirs, right in front of Loke, who was bang in the middle. Loke hurriedly continued cutting away at the rope, with a lot more urgency. _Nearly there..._

The door opened to reveal a tall woman with sunglasses and a black, knee length jacket. Loke dropped his knife once again. His mouth was wide agape, seeing the person in front of him. She wore black high heels, black gloves and a black lace dress, which he could see as she removed the buttons of her jacket. She also took of her sunglasses to reveal her very familiar brown eyes. Her fedora could not hide her distinctive, _Pink hair_.. _Aries..._

Before anyone could comprehend the situation, Loke used his sheer strength to break the rope away from his wrists and rushed to Aries. He cupped her cheek before passionately kissing her on the lips. Aries looked as shocked as everyone in the room, the Fairy Tail students gaping at their friend who was apparently a woman assaulter. When Aries finally regained control, she pushed him away and glared at him. The burly limousine driver grabbed Loke and placed him back on the chair, forcefully gripping down on his shoulders to make sure that he did not move. Aries then sat down, not even trying to look at the people she had kidnapped.

"Listen up, you punks. Thanks to you, the Underworld is in chaos. We have important leaders dying and money not being transferred at the right locations. Moles are everywhere but we can't find them. Everything is collapsing and it's all your fault! ... You, over there with the Pink hair! You have caused one of the greatest leaders to be hospitalised, and now his empire is on the verge of collapse. And you, Blondie! Do you know what trouble you have caused for us? Thanks to your power hungry dad, we have lost billions of Jewels, and we don't know where it's all going, because you kept on begging for more presents. And you, Raven haired guy! ALL our female leaders have left to pursue some random guy that they found highly attractive, because they felt like they would never find love in the business. Aren't you ashamed of yourself? And you, power couple over there! Who do you think you are, Bonnie and Clyde? Killing all our best men? How much tainted blood do you need in your hands before you are satisfied? All of you lot have done something, so what do you have to say for yourselves?"

They all stared at her in confusion. Sure, they had done similar things to what she had described, but nothing that violent! Natsu had tried to serve a customer at his part time job when some dude just attacked his customer, so he had defended her. He hadn't been that badly hurt to be hospitalised! And Lucy had stopped her dad buying her anything months ago, so it wasn't possible that he had still been taking money, especially from the Underworld. After all, he was bankrupt now, so where was all the money that she was talking about? And Gray thought nothing of what she had said, as it would have probably been true a couple of months ago. Right now though, he had dedicated all his time to Erza, so it was highly unlikely that it was true. Although, his vanity still allowed him to think that he was amazing for actually doing all that. And Bisca and Alzack stared at each other with complete confusion. They had never killed anyone in their lives, so what was she going on about?

Finally, after the elongated silence, Natsu had the courage to speak,  
"Listen here lady, we have done none of the things you are talking about. Sure, I hit a guy, but it was only one punch! And I didn't even use my maximum strength on that guy... I'm pretty sure you've got the wrong people lady, we have nothing to do with the Underworld, and Alsca over there could never even kill a cockroach!" Alzack and Bisca blushed at Natsu using their ship name, which had been going around the whole school like a virus. Whenever they were together, everyone would always say "Alsca," instead of both of their individual names. They didn't mind too much, but they were embarrassed.

Aries raised her eyebrow before saying,  
"So... are any of you called Amelia, Seralin, Cora, Gisko, Nevin, Star, Nico, Colin, Raven or?..." They all shook their head in unison, except for Loke who was still staring at the floor, away from Aries. Aries sighed before doing a motion with her hand. At once, they were released from their bonds.  
"I am very sorry for this inconvenience, we would wish for you to not discuss this with anyone. You may all go... Except for.. Leo.." she said while looking straight at Loke's slumped figure. They all looked at each other in confusion, not aware that they had someone in their group named Leo. Loke cleared his throat before saying, "You can go, she's talking about me.."

They were not allowed to fight or complain as they were shoved away.

Aries slid her chair closer to Leo's and grabbed his chin with her hand and made him look her in the eye. He sighed and sat up, making Aries let go and stare at Leo for the first time in years.  
"What are you wearing, remove those ugly glasses," she whispered, a small smile on her face. Leo obliged, still silent.  
"How have you been?" she tried again, hoping to get a response.  
"How the fuck do you think I've been Aries?! After all these years I thought you were dead, here you are, and you've kidnapped me and my friends! Do you know how fucking long I've tried to search for your grave? Do you know how it felt to lose the one and only person you count on?! Apparently not, as you never tried to contact me. Are you happy? Well, here I fucking am! You look so pleased to see me Aries, c'mon, smile! Don't you know how much shit I've been through? Do you know how hard it was to not just end my life? What was the point of living when I had no one?! But then I fought, I fought hard until I could finally get what I deserved as a Zodiac, but you know what I still regretted? Not being able to be there for you when you apparently died.. But you look fine, you actually look fantastic! And yet you never even tried to talk to me, what kind of friend are you!?" Leo spat, his words carrying as much venom and sarcasm as he could muster. After seeing her after so many years, he could definitively say that it wasn't a happy reunion.

Aries had said nothing throughout his whole rant, and she was saying nothing even now. She was expressionless and quiet, sitting still like a marble statue. Leo was pissed off once more. How could she act so callous?! A thought sparked inside him. He knew that there was one moment that she hadn't been emotionless, that she had actually reacted to something he did. This time, Leo moved in much more slowly, giving her time to escape if she wanted to. He held her cheek with one hand, which made her shiver, and he leaned in closer and closer...  
Their lips touched, and Leo kissed her with so much passion that all his emotions were evident. She could feel the anger inside him as he forcefully pressed his lips on hers. She could also feel the sorrow he had felt for years from the way he kissed her slowly and gently, not rushing the kiss. She could also feel the one thing which she certainly had not expected him to feel for her.. _Love... He loves me...__  
_Aries found herself slowly kissing him back, her hand gripped at his collar as she tried to evoke one phrase through her kiss... _I'm sorry._

When she realised the full capacity of what she was doing, she pulled away and slapped him. Leo didn't even feel the sting of the slap, just the heartache that was making him go weak. Aries called for one of her goons to escort him out of the room. Aries then stood up and wiped away invisible dust on her jacket. She entered the limousine and told the driver to step on it. When she reached her apartment, she walked slowly to the bathroom, as if intoxicated. She reached the sink and then started scrubbing away at her lips, hoping that the memory of Leo kissing her would go away. It wasn't like that was her first kiss. After all, she had lost all her innocence long ago. She kept on washing the taste of his lips on hers over and over again, but the memory was scorched inside her brain. She gripped the sink hard before looking at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were red from crying in the limousine, and her lipstick was all gone, thanks to her washing it away. Her mascara and eyeliner made her look like she was crying black tears and in that moment, she truly broke down. She cried and cried, the tears never stopping and the memories never resting, coming in a torrent all at once.

_After Karen's death, I fainted. The next thing I knew, I was inside the truck that had hit Karen. I panicked because I didn't know why I was in the killer's car. The police pulled me forcefully out of the car and sent me in for questioning. I told them I was set up, but they didn't listen to me. Being a Zodiac didn't matter, because us Zodiacs were there for the people. They discovered that Karen hadn't treated me well, so they instantly thought that it was the motive for me killing her. I was put on trial, but it was completely biased and unfair. I had no defence attorney and no one would let me speak, so I sat in silence as they said things about me that weren't true. Even if Karen was evil, I would never have condemned her to die in that way. When the jury had finished deliberating, a task that took less than a minute, I was charged guilty with the murder of Karen Lilica and given the life sentence. I let them handcuff me with no complaints and was thrown into a cell. I knew that I had already given up, already accepted my fate of staying in a cell for thirty years. What the jury had completely disregarded was that I had severe injuries that could only have been caused during the car crash, but no one had even tried to get a doctor to treat me. It was all agony, and I can vividly remember the pain.. I remember thinking what a waste my life was, how futile it had all been. If only I hadn't screamed, maybe Leo wouldn't have tried to help me..._

_They fed me every day and the prison guards were very kind with me, giving me okay food and a blanket to sleep in. I wasn't allowed any parole, so I only had the company of the stars to look at. It helped a lot, as I felt like I belonged up there with them, not in that cell, my life slowly going to waste. As the years went by, I became more and more sour, my positive perspective of life turning negative. I was no longer optimistic, but as pessimistic as the clouds that reigned during the winter season. I never spoke a word and let them all laugh at how weak and young I was.. I couldn't be bothered to care.__  
__While I looked at the stars for comfort one night, I heard the sound of keys clinging loudly. I ignored it, as no one talked to me anymore. They came closer and closer, and I became curious. I walked closer to the cell bars and was about to look through them when a dark figure whispered, "Boo.." I screamed loudly and fell on the floor, fear gripping me. The man had a sadistic, cruel smile that I had seen before on one other person. Karen.. He unlocked the cell doors and grabbed my wrist, pulling me to whichever direction he was headed to. There was nothing I could do, as the prison food had rendered me weak and incapable to do simple tasks anymore. It would have probably been impossible to escape the man's grasp. He pushed me out of an open window, and I found myself breathing in fresh air in what had been almost five years. He carried me in his arms to a car and I fell asleep, unaware of what he was going to do to me. I woke up in a large, comfortable bed. That was the bed in which I actually had the best sleep. My stomach grumbled and the man from yesterday had a warm smile on his face. He was carrying food on a tray, and I remember salivating, hunger clouding any of my other thoughts. It's ironic now that I always make someone else taste my food before I do, just in case someone tries to kill me by poison. I gladly munched on the food as he patted my head. When I had finished everything, I stared at him, trying to comprehend what he was thinking. I was a criminal at twelve, so what could he possibly have wanted from me? He took the tray and put it on the floor before asking,_

_"Have you slept well, Aries?" His voice was deep and masculine, just like I had imagined. I nodded, trying not to speak as I had not spoken for so long. I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came out.__  
__"Don't worry, my child. It will soon all be clear. You do not have to speak, let me just explain. I am in a criminal organisation, one of the greatest leaders in the Underworld. I need someone to be my right hand man, someone who I can trust, but I have no one I do not suspect of betraying me. The only person I know I can trust is one of the Zodiacs, and that is were you come in. You, my dear, as a Zodiac. You are loyal and faithful, which is what I like. I know you have the potential to be great, just like your ancestors. But before you say no, don't you feel like the police have treated you wrongly? You have been accused for a crime you never committed, having to stay there for thirty years if I had not rescued you. You are twelve, yet you haven't been in school once. No one would give you a job or respect you in society because of the alleged crime you have committed. However, if you stay with me, I can teach you so much. Not the boring stuff, but invaluable life lessons, how to deal with your enemy, the best way to finance your plans, that sort of thing. If you join me, we could be a great team together. Deal?" He held out his hand, waiting for me to shake it. I knew that there was no turning back and even if I did decline, I would be hated by both the Underworld and the Law. I shook his hand shyly, and he smiled brightly at me. The years went on, and he got me a speech teacher to help me regain my voice. He thought me how to steal, how to use a gun, and most importantly, how to kill. I went wild after that. I started drinking and partying, wasting my money and using my 'innocent' image to lure in hot guys from the Underworld. They were all just a game to me, and some were great in bed, while others were not. I didn't hesitate to think twice of losing my innocence. I couldn't keep it if I stayed in the Underworld. It was better to be prepared and lose all first experiences before they were taken from me. Do I regret it?... Yes. I really do, but I can't turn back to the past to stop myself. I became second in command, and everything he had was mine. He treated me like a daughter, and I saw him as my father. Even if I wanted to leave the Underworld, there was no escape.._

* * *

**Park 2 AM (Refer to chapter 35)**

Ultear sat at the park bench, drinking her wine from her champagne glass. She looked a complete mess, her hair tangled, her make-up all over the place and one of her shoes missing. Did she regret what she had just done? Ultear never regretted anything she did. She sat on the chair, proud, defiant, but inside, she felt deflated.

_"Ultear.." said Gray while still holding Erza. Ultear snapped and started screaming at him,__  
__"You ungrateful son of a bitch, how dare you! After all that I've done and you're still -"__  
__"Ultear, Ul was also your mother.."__  
__"Shut up Gray, just shut the fuck up! Do you know how tired I am of you? I have had to look at you humiliating yourself and making yourself stupid and amazingly narcissistic ever since she left. Do you know how ashamed she would have been of you? Yet, even now you will never quit. My father was right that I should have never stayed with you. If I had, I would have become corrupted like you in every way. Do you even have any decency left? Drinking, drugs, what else? Maybe even sex? Do you know how much you are embarrassing me and my father?"_

_Gray laughed dryly when she had said, "Sex".. So apparently, he was still innocent.__  
__"Well, what else? Now you have really stooped so low as to make me dislike you even more by bringing the person I hate most to MY HOUSE! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH SHE HAS RUINED MY LIFE? SHE DESERVES TO DIE IN HELL AND NEVER COME BACK, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT SHE IS, THE DEVIL!"__  
__Gray glared at her before placing Erza gently on the couch and walking up the stairs.__  
__"OH, SO NOW YOU'RE MR. I DON'T GIVE A SHIT AND I'LL JUST PRANCE AROUND IGNORING SENSE? WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? YOU ARE LITERALLY IMPRESSING NO ONE. THE ONLY PEOPLE YOU ARE IMPRESSING ARE COMIC RELIEF, AND THEY HAVEN'T EVEN LAUGHED AT YOUR PATHETIC ACT YET!" she screamed as she followed him up the stairs. She saw him take a blanket from his room before he walked back down stairs, dodging her.__  
__"SO NOW YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THE DECENCY TO LISTEN TO ME? LISTEN UP GRAY, WHATEVER YOU DO, YOU CAN'T ESCAPE FROM ME OR FATE!" she screamed before throwing her heel at his back, but he just continued walking down the stairs, unfazed. He wrapped the blanket around Erza before carrying her out of the door. Before he could walk out of the door, she threw her other heel at him. He acted as if he hadn't even felt it and drove away. Ultear had screamed once more in fury before banging the door shut, too angry to even bother to trash his house. She had gone to the supermarket straight after and bought wine and a champagne glass, using her fake ID. She had then walked to the park to think over what she had done, but she walked unsteadily on her feet, the pebbles getting stuck at the soles of her feet._

Ultear had finished the bottle in only a few gulps. She was getting a bit too good at drinking wine. Her head was finally fuzzy and her vision was blurry, and all she wanted to do was sleep. She lay down on the bench and curled her legs, hoping to have a pleasant memory, but instead having the memory of _that day._

_The day after, she went to the same place they had met for three months and she was there. She looked so ethereal, too gorgeous for the world. Ultear had wondered why no one had ever asked her for a modelling contract. As she approached her, Erza began singing quietly to herself, clearly not expecting Ultear to come. Even though she was mumbling, Ultear was star struck by her voice. She stood, frozen, as she listened to her friend. Erza turned around mid note to find her friend staring at her. Ultear was her only friend, and she was Ultear's only friend. Ultear sat down next to her and put her head on Erza's shoulder before mumbling sorry. Erza said nothing to that, so they just stayed in silence. Ultear looked at the river and saw the fishes in it, dancing, as if the melody of Erza's voice could still be heard. Ultear felt like nothing her best friend did could make her hate her. They may argue sometimes, but it was normal among friends. After all, they always made up after they had argued about something irrelevant. Ultear got the giggles when she remembered that she couldn't even remember one of their arguments. They all seemed like a fantastical dream that she could not place. No one ever came to watch the river, even though it was beautiful. Ultear had always thought that it would have been dangerous to stay near it, as the currents usually moved pretty quickly. That was when she had been naive and little as she stared down at it from the school playground. There had even been stories that a sea creature lived there, but that had been complete lies. Ultear had always suspected that Erza had somehow told someone to spread that rumour so that she could stay by the riverside, alone. Erza always seemed so alone to Ultear, even though at that time they finally had each other for company. Erza had started singing again, her voice angelic to Ultear, who knew her voice was okay, but not spectacular like her friends'. She could never feel jealous of her, because she knew that it was pointless. One life lesson she had learned was - "You cannot be great at everything, and even if you are great at something, there is always someone better than you." That saying had stopped her from being jealous of others, as she knew she already had too much. She always contemplated whether she really wanted to become like her father. After all, she knew that he wasn't a very nice man to other people, but he was nice to her. That was all that mattered. Her father was probably everything to her, as he provided for her and made sure she was safe and happy. He may not have been a good father to Gray or Lyon, or even a good husband to her mother, but he was the best dad for her. He cared for her immensely and would never try to harm her again. That was what he had said several times, but just that morning, he had slapped her yet again for showing kindness to a homeless person in the street. He had told her that that person had tried to take her money because he was pretending to be poor. Ultear had not believed him at first, as he had looked too thin and too sickly, but Ultear had convinced herself that he was naturally skinny and he had applied make-up to make himself look paler than he really was. When that had been implemented in her brain, her father had acted kindly to her once more. Social services had once tried to take her away from her daddy, but she had fought back and so had her father, meaning that she could actually stay with him. She had been so happy and relieved, glad that they had not tried to make her go back and live in poverty. Her father had said that he had gotten 'rid' of those bad people who had taken her away from him, and she had believed that it was the right thing. They had been bad people for trying to take her away from her father!__  
__"Ultear, you can't live with your father. He is a power hungry criminal and a murderer. He uses his power to kill innocent people and corrupt others, making all his enemies suffer. He even hurts you! What type of father is he?! How could he hurt his own child, who he supposedly loves? You think you can hide the bruises Ultear? I know.. I can see them.. You don't have to hide anymore. You can free yourself from him and ev-" mumbled Erza.__  
__Ultear snapped. She never knew that she could be so angry, but she truly was. HOW COULD SHE!? Ultear slapped the person she had thought was her best friend before stomping off, vowing never to see her again. Ultear had not looked back, and neither had Erza as she had walked away, crying silent tears. Ultear had stopped crying long ago, so she could only channel her frustration through anger, by smashing expensive plates and ripping her expensive clothes. Her father had entered her bedroom to find it a mess. She had looked completely berserk, and a smile had crept on his face as he had closed the door behind him.__  
__She was finally becoming like him..._

Ultear sat bolt upright at the thought. There was only one thing that was coursing through her mind- it was that sacred word that she uttered only when in desperate need of help..She needed to call him..

_Brother..._

* * *

**Magnolia Beach 2 PM**

Hibiki stood at the altar, his new suit as white as the decorations. Everyone he cared for was there, as they sat on their seats. Cana wasn't there yet, apparently taking the phrase, 'Fashionably late' to meaning. Hibiki was shivering, but it was a really warm day. There was silence as the Priest looked at his watch, hoping the bride would speed up or he would have to charge more per minute.

Cana finally arrived while riding on a white horse, her bridesmaids holding her train. Among the bridesmaids were Erza, Lucy, Levi, Juvia and Bisca. They all helped Cana to get off the horse, but with her wedding dress and the height of the horse, it had been very clumsily done and had taken quite a bit of time. **(Type in wedding dress and it's the first one :)) **Mirajane was supposed to be the maid of honour, but she had been on holiday, and there was no way that she would ruin that for her friend. After all, now she had five maid of honours. Their wedding wasn't typical, so they could have as many of anything as they had wanted. They had invited only close friends and some family, so it was a very small congregation. Cana walked in time to the piano playing of, "Here comes the bride," and she couldn't stop smiling for even one second. It was finally happening. She was getting married...

As she nearly reached the altar, her maids of honour sat down in their seats, and Gildarts took over. He smiled at his daughter and she saw an emotion that she hadn't seen in a while..._Pride. _Gildarts handed her over to Hibiki while whispering a threat to him, which made him visibly cringe. When she was finally facing Hibiki, she started giggling, and he chuckled along, just as nervous as her. It was actually happening.

"We are gathered today in this beautiful location with Cana and Hibiki as they exchange vows of everlasting love..." The priest rambled on and on, but Cana and Hibiki weren't really listening. They were actually doing it, getting married. They would be together for life, for better, for worse, for richer and for poorer...

"Will you, Hibiki Lates, take Cana as your lawfully wedded wife, your partner in life and your one true love? Will you cherish her friendship and love her today, tomorrow and forever? Will you trust and honour her, laugh with her and cry with her? Will you be faithful through good times and bad, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?"  
"I do," said Hibiki with conviction.  
"Will you, Cana Alberona, take Hibiki as your lawfully wedded husband, your partner in life and your one true love? Will you cherish his friendship and love his today, tomorrow and forever? Will you trust and honour him, laugh with him and cry with him? Will you be faithful through good times and bad, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," whispered Cana, still in disbelief at what was about to happen.  
They then took the rings and Hibiki said his vows first as he put the ring on Cana's finger,  
"Well, I didn't really prepare vows, but here goes..." The congregation laughed restraintly.  
"Cana, when I first met you on this beach, I thought you were the most beautiful person I had ever met. I just couldn't stay away from you, so I tried my hardest to make you like me. I had heard that you didn't really like guys too much, so I was worried. I thought I would be rejected, but then you actually said yes and I nearly collapsed. Even if girls don't think we guys have butterflies, then they are completely wrong... Anyway, I can't promise to always be there for you, or to not fight with you, even though you do win most arguments, but I can promise you this; I will never love anyone like I love you and I am ready to start a family with you and make you the happiest you have ever been." The congregation awwed at his vows while Cana had started to cry. She wiped her tears away. Cana then took Hibiki's hand and put the ring on his finger,  
"To be quite honest with you, I didn't prepare any vows. At first, I tried memorising the traditional ones, but that was too hard, so I gave up and tried to write my own. I am no poet, so you can imagine how it went.. I thought the words would come to me on the wedding day, but my mind is still blank, so here goes. I love you so much Hibiki Lates and one thing I know for certain is that you will be the best ever father to our child, and hey! We may even have more!" said Cana, which earned her whistles from the congregation.

"Then now I pronounce you man and wife, and you may kiss the bride," said the priest. Cana jumped on Hibiki and kissed him with all her might, gripping on to him so that he couldn't escape. They kissed for so long that the priest and the congregation both began to feel awkward. When she pulled away, they congregation cheered them on loudly. As Hibiki princess- carried her to the car which would take them to the after party, they saw someone in the distance coming closer, long white hair blending with her pure white dress. Cana was the first to see who it was and she was completely gobsmacked. _No... It can't be..._

But it really was. It was Lisanna, slowly walking up to them. She shyly said hi to the newly wedded couple before giving them both a hug. Everyone in the congregation was muttering among themselves, except for Natsu. He was grinning like a fool, his legs shaking excitedly.  
"Natsu!" screamed Lisanna, and the Salmon haired boy rushed to hug his childhood friend. Lucy wouldn't admit it, but she was jealous of the girl with White hair that she didn't even know. Lisanna then went on to hug her older brother, Elfman. He was sat the whole time with a woman named Evergreen who had long, light brown hair. They had silently talked to each other before the wedding had begun, and Elfman had felt himself falling for her. After Lisanna's arrival, she sat down at a spare seat.

Seeing Lisanna had made Cana remember that she had to do something.  
"Hey guys, it's time to catch the bouquet! Everyone can join in, so c'mon boys!" she shouted, hoping everyone had heard her. Erza chose not to stand up, as being at the front meant that Cana couldn't see her. She had more ambitions than to get married. But Cana always did things differently...

Cana had five bouquets, not just one. Five lucky people would be picked to get married. She threw the first one, and Evergreen caught it, which made everyone wonder who her husband was going to be, while Elfman just blushed. The next one, Levi caught with a huge leap, and she deeply blushed. Now, her dream of marrying _him _could come true. Gajeel had ruffled his tied up hair as Levi had bragged about catching the bouquet. Then, Juvia caught it, and Juvia had started crying. Everyone had tried to stop her, hoping that it would stay sunny and not rain. Luckily, she stopped quickly enough. Cana threw it again and Lisanna was about to catch it, but Lucy swooped in at the last second. She beamed at Natsu, and he had blushed red while getting a peck on the cheek from her. Finally, it was the last bouquet, and Cana definitely had a target. Cana was quite good at sports, especially throwing ones. All the other four had been random, but this one was strategically placed, even though she couldn't see where _she _was. She knew that she would get it right on target. Cana flung it backwards and it swooped in a slow motion arc before it landed on Erza's lap. Cana turned around quickly t see her expression, and she looked completely stunned. Cana had clapped her hands in approval and said, "That one was the original bouquet by the way, Erza-chan!" She had said this so that everyone could hear her, as Erza had rapidly gotten rid of the bouquet from her lap to make it seem like it had landed on the floor. The Titania glared at the newlywed, and she just laughed maniacally.

They all took the coach to go to the venue for the wedding reception. The boys/men and girls/women had been divided between the two sides of the bus, so Gray had no chance to talk to Erza. It was probably better off that way, as Erza was angrily shouting at her phone to Cana that she had set her up. Gray looked out of the window and then at Lisanna, the girl who everyone had thought was dead. The doctors had been so sure that she would never wake up, but here she was. Her hair was a lot longer, probably because she hadn't had the time to cut it while in the coma. She looked exactly the same, just taller and more beautiful than adorable. He couldn't believe it when Natsu had jumped on her for a hug. He then turned to look at Lucy, who was staring at the window. Even though she wasn't showing it, Gray knew his best friend too well - she was jealous. _Like c'mon, it's so obvious Lucy! _He screamed at his friend, and he actually thought it had reached her when she had jolted and looked straight at him. It was actually Juvia who had wanted to talk to her, as they were sitting next to each other. Erza turned herself around and talked to Lucy and Juvia, finally done talking with Cana. Gray chuckled to himself at the spectacle he was seeing; how girls could still act happy even though there was always pain and sadness within them. It was actually very admirable. He wasn't like that, and he showed his feelings when he wanted to. So did Natsu and the other guys. The girls laughed together and talked about the wedding, and Gray fell asleep with the sound of their laughter, especially Erza's.

* * *

**Wedding Reception 5:30 PM**

After a long one hour ride on the coach, they finally arrived at the wedding reception. They sat at their allocated seats, except for Lisanna, because she sat in Mirajane's seat. The couple arrived soon after and sat at the highest table in front of everyone, so they could look at all their friends and family. Cana and Hibiki made a round of the tables, getting congratulated at while they hugged them. They made a whole tour of the tables before they finally sat down and said, "Enjoy!"

**(Theses are the dresses they are wearing btw:****  
**Erza: . /product/uk-floor-length-lavender-evening-prom-dress-lfnae0001  
Lucy: . /product/blake-lively-2014-cannes-film-festival-red-evening-dress-replica-lfnbe0013  
Juvia: . /product/uk-floor-length-pool-evening-prom-dress-lfnac0008  
Lisanna: . /product/2015-new-floor-length-black-evening-prom-dress-lfnbe0001  
Levi: . /product/online-floor-length-classy-floor-length-sage-evening-prom-dress-lfnae0039  
Bisca: . /product/unique-floor-length-multicolour-evening-prom-dress-lfnaf0142

Loud music played as they ate their food, having fun even though it was a formal event. Lucy held on to Natsu's hand tightly, and Natsu looked at her worriedly frequently. Every time he gave her that worried look, she shook her head and smiled faintly while saying that everything was perfectly fine. Lucy felt like she was suffocating in the room, even though it was as large as the hall in Fairy Tail. She excused herself from the table, and started walking away when she saw Lisanna sit in her seat and talk to Natsu from her peripheral vision.

She sighed, tired of keeping those stressful feelings. She knew that she needed something to drink, water would be best, so she started getting up, but her legs wouldn't move. She didn't think that she was feeling _that_ weak, so she tried again. But her legs wouldn't budge, and she didn't know what to do. Just as she was about to scream, "Natsu!", she saw a shadow. She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that someone would help her. A young man who she didn't know saw her on the floor and helped her up. She thanked them and tried walking again, but she fell yet again. He picked her up once more and she thanked him, and he asked where she was going.  
"Could you please show me where the refreshments room is?"  
"Of course, for such a pretty lady like you," he said. Lucy courteously smiled but said to him,  
"I'm taken, by the way," just so that he wouldn't get the wrong idea. He nodded, but he wasn't really listening to her as he wrapped her arm around his shoulder so that she could walk with his support. They finally entered a room, after the long walk, and Lucy looked for water. There wasn't any, so she turned to him to ask where they were. The movement in her legs was much better than before, so she could walk on her own. She heard a clicking sound and she turned her head around. As soon as she did that, he pounced on her, trying to kiss her.  
"G..Get off me you bastard!" she screamed, trying to get him off her, but he was too strong. She tried her hardest to not let his lips go anywhere near hers, but he managed to after a few minutes of struggle. As he roughly kissed her, his grip on her loosened, so she kicked him in the family jewels. As she held her wounded wrist, she remembered something...  
Whilst this strange guy had kissed her, the door had locked from the outside..  
And she had heard a camera click as he had kissed her...

Before forming any coherent thoughts, Lucy flung the door open, hitched up her dress and ran for her life. If what she thought was true... She was in huge trouble..  
She remembered something from her simulation:

_"Luce!" A voice says forcefully, making me turn instantly, tears still in my eyes. "I can't believe you cheated on me, I hate you Lucy Heartfilia!" screams the Salmon haired boy that I love so much._

**\\(*^-^*)/**

"Natsu, hi.." says Lisanna softly, her voice sweet but full of sadness.  
"What's up?" says Natsu happily.  
"Natsu, there's something I have to confess to you," she says, her voice barely above a whisper. Nastu looks at her attentively, worried about why his friend is being so mysterious.  
"Natsu, there's a picture I have to show you.. Now, it might shock you, but I am always here for you.." she said, trying to sound as remorseful as she could.

_Natsu, please wait for me! I'm coming, so please don't believe her.. Please... please.._

"I was walking towards the toilets when I suddenly saw this through a window, and I couldn't believe that it happened! You might not want to trust your dear girlfriend so much.."

_I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, so please wait for me.. I'll explain everything, just wait.. I'm running as fast as my legs go, so wait for me.._

Lisanna showed Natsu the picture and surely, it was Lucy in her outfit, kissing some other guy... Natsu was speechless. Lisanna strategically placed an arm around Natsu and said, "It's okay, at least you have me, right?"  
But he wasn't listening to anything she was saying. He looked up and he met the brown eyes he had seen every day for the past few weeks looking at in the morning and in the night, when he was about to fall asleep. Those lips he had kissed..  
_They're not mine anymore..._

* * *

**Redfox Mansion - 10 hours later**

Gajeel sat at the head of the table, having a family meeting. All his family, both close and distant, as well as Levi to support him, were all in the room. They were all going to discuss the future of the Redfox family. They already had several branches that were running all over the world, but they didn't know whether those branches stood by those traditional rules. That was why they were all in the household to discuss if they were keeping the rules. Gajeel felt nervous because he knew that he had no right to talk about family rules to others when he had practically broken every rule. Nevertheless, as part of the Redfox family and him being the highest in command, he had to comply.

Levi looked absolutely stunning with a blue kimono with a shiny silver dragon accompanied by a silver hairpiece. Levi had already fitted in with the family as soon as they had disbanded the rule of the heads of the families having their parents choose who they married. His mother and her had gotten very close, always gossiping about him and looking at baby pictures of him, which made him very embarrassed. He always told her to look away, but all she did was coo at how adorable he had been and how he had looked exactly the same.

The family felt complete and he was happy about all the changes they had decided to implement. Levi didn't know it, but his mother had been secretly training her to become the second head to the family. He sighed but knew it was inevitable. His mother had already known long time ago that he had every intention of marrying her once they were out of high school.

Firstly, he needed to introduce himself to the newest member in his world, who was apparently the youngest boss. Her name was Wendy and she was a Bluenette. He bowed to her and she curtsied politely. They then shook hands and he welcomed her. To make it less awkward, he had hugged her for less than a second, and she had blushed profusely. At least she had stopped being quiet and had laughed together. Next, was the district assessment.

He talked about the different branches individually and all their morals and values. When something contradicted with the traditional family rules, he had to write it down and then tell them what rules to change. It was all very mundane and boring, but Levi always made it more fun by talking about a recent novel she had read and its morals, and why they shouldn't break the family rules. When one of his family members talked too quickly for him to understand everything they were saying, or they had an accent he couldn't understand, Levi always supported him by writing it down for him. She was good at listening carefully and writing quick, efficient notes. It was all he could do to not stare at her for hours. Once they had gone through half the family members, he asked for a recess.

He was already exhausted as it was so mundane and repetitive. He just wanted to tell them what they had to do and then spend time with Levi, but he knew that _he _would have made sure the problem was solved over individuals. Levi brought him some green tea before kissing him lightly on the cheek and hugging him, and he sighed contentedly.  
"Gajeel?"  
"Hmn?"  
"When are we getting married?" she asked. Gajeel spluttered his tea all over himself nervously. Levi just laughed at him before picking out another outfit for him to change in.  
"Gajeel, I was just having fun with you! All the wedding talk yesterday made me want to have my own wedding, you know? We don't have to rush into it, I'm just saying that we should think about it. After all, I am practically part of the family.." she finished before hearing Gajeel chuckle loudly. She gave him a coy smile before throwing his clothes to him and walking away. Gajeel got changed with a huge smile, glad that he had chosen Levi after all. It had actually been a very near miss...

When he had finished, Gajeel sat down at the head of the table again, waiting for all the other family members to come in and sit. His mother was last, a worried expression on her face. He was about to ask her what was wrong when he heard a huge roar from outside. He looked at the large doors, confused as to what was happening. The large doors opened to reveal a large figure..

_No..It can't be..._

Right in front of him was.. His father.

All the members of his family stood up and bowed, and even Levi followed suit. The only two people who did not follow the rest were Gajeel's mother and Gajeel himself. A powerful and penetrating voice said, "You may raise your heads," but they still kept their heads bowed. Gajeel could see his mother trembling, her hand covering her mouth shakily. Suddenly, she was on the floor, and the whole family was in a panic, calling for the hospital and rushing to see if she was okay. Gajeel could only look at the man who had made his life a misery...

_My father..._

* * *

_When I was seventeen, I didn't believe in arranged marriage. I didn't complain, because I knew it would upset the elders, but I didn't want to accept it either. As the sole heir of my family dynasty, I needed to marry another powerful family's son. I already had a boyfriend at the time, so I wasn't too pleased to go on an arranged date. I was forced to break up with him the day before I met him. I was devastated, but there was nothing I could do about it.__  
__When I met him, he had long black hair with piercings near his eyes, and I was absolutely terrified of him. He could see I visibly shivered, and he cackled like a maniac, making me want to run away even more. There was no way I could fall in love with that lunatic! Was what I thought at the time. But somehow, I did. Even with his scary appearance, he was so sweet and kind to me. He held me when I cried and at the same time laughed at me. When I beat him at something, he sulked like a baby until I played a rematch with him and he could finally win, even though he had lost all other games. We talked for hours about our futures, how we felt about life, death and all matters. If we could ever leave the family and what would happen to our children. One conversation that I will never forget is when we talked about our arranged marriage.__  
__"Hey, why aren't you angry about this arranged marriage thing?"__  
__"Why would I be?" he said to me.__  
__"Well, didn't you have to break up with anyone?"__  
__"Who would date me?" he said. I giggled at that before saying,__  
__"Very true.. Then, why aren't we rebelling? Don't we have rights?!"__  
__"What do we have to rebel about?" he said.__  
__"Huh?"__  
__"I like you. I've liked you since the moment I saw you. You aren't the prettiest person I've seen, so don't think it was your looks. I just.. was mesmerised by your eyes. How you seem so wise and how calm you can be under any situation,"__  
__"Wow thanks!" I said sarcastically at the comment he had made about my looks.__  
__"But seriously, I think it was love at first sight... I love you," he had whispered in my ear. I had blushed crimson red and then told him that he was playing games with me, but he said that it was the truth and kept on saying that he loved me several times until I finally said it too, and that was when we shared our first kiss.__  
__When we got married, he found it easy to have all those responsibilities, but I knew he wasn't happy. He was happy about our marriage, but not the job as master of the house. Our little baby was about to be born and he had kept on talking about leaving the family, but the elders were against it. There was only one thing he enjoyed more than anything, and it was painting. He never did it for the money or fame, but just for how peaceful he felt and how happy those who received his paintings became. That was why he left, and I could never blame him. The elders had forced me into another arranged marriage, and I was too distraught to think clearly. The first man I felt made me secure was the one I married. But I still loved him...__  
__And he had sent me a letter just a few days before the family meeting saying that he would come back, and I waited for him. I just didn't think that I would faint from happiness..._

* * *

**Hospital - Current Day 6 PM**

Lyon had finally been released, he rushed to the wedding reception. After all Cana was his best friend, so he wouldn't miss it for the world. He still had injuries, but he was fine. The time at the hospital had helped him reflect, and he had finally accepted that Cana had never been his.. He wished all the best for the spouses.

...

Juvia walked outside the venue, trying to not let her thoughts only think of Lyon. She missed him so much that it hurt.. She didn't know how to stop thinking about him, and the food wasn't helping. He was everywhere around her, his deodorant the only thing she could smell, his voice the only thing she could hear, his captivating eyes being the colour of everything she saw, the only thing missing was actually feeling him. Juvia saw a figure running towards her, _but surely, it couldn't be..._

It was. Juvia started crying, the tears flowing continuously. The rain also came in a torrent, thunder and lightning dominating the skies. He had finally reached her and he could see that the Bluenette was crying. Lyon remembered that something similar had happened to him when he was younger, but for some reason, he could only remember it now and not anytime before this event.

_Lyon saw a girl sitting on a chair, all alone. It had been raining dogs and cats, yet she didn't even have an umbrella. He looked at the umbrella in his hands and knew that he couldn't be mean to someone so clearly desolate. He walked up to her and put the umbrella over her head. He smiled at her and she had smiled back.__  
__"Let's go inside," he said. The girl had just nodded and followed him, holding on to his shirt. He had laughed about it, but she had become even more nervous, so he had talked about how he liked rain, unlike his brother. She had calmed down a lot more after that and they had listened to the sound of rain together. He had then let her talk to all the nice girls in the class, so that she could come out of her shell. He had watched her being alone for quite a while, and he had desperately wanted to change that. And now he had..._

Lyon thought that she looked exactly like that Bluenette. He gently hugged her, so as to not scare her. Juvia cried even more into his shoulder before pulling away, saying,  
"Sorry Lyon.. But there is no way we can be friends!" she said, tears still in her eyes. Lyon was about to say, "But-" when she interrupted him,  
"How can we be friends if you are so kind to me? Don't you know that I just keep on falling more and more in love with you?!" she said, which rendered him speechless.

Juvia waited for a few seconds to see if he would say anything, but she knew she was wasting her time. When he said nothing, Juvia walked away with a sad smile. Juvia had also congratulated herself because she had not spoken in third person once. Her heart was broken and she felt weak in the knees, but there was nothing she could do about it..

But in fact, Lyon hadn't said anything not because he didn't like her, but because he didn't know what to say. He had still been stunned over what she had said to him... How the times have changed, when he was the one ogling her...

* * *

**Wedding Reception 6:10 PM**

"And I want to make a toast! To our child!" shouted Cana.  
"To your child!" they all said in unison.  
They all clapped at the newlyweds, completely happy for them.  
"Let me tell you guys a funny story! Okay, it was November, and Hibiki and I had been dating for a year. Now, it was our anniversary, but I had completely forgotten!"

"What a great girlfriend," muttered Hibiki sarcastically, earning him a few laughs.  
"So anyway, he gave me this adorable key-chain with a super kawaii beer bottle with eyes, and I was speechless at how much he loved me. Then, he told me happy anniversary and I was like, oh shit, because I only remembered then. He wasn't expecting a gift, bless him, but isn't it like a custom for the girlfriend to remember, not the guy? So yeah, I searched in my bag for an imaginary gift and then I was like, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, I'M PREGNANT BABE! He stared at me like I was a complete nutter, because we had never had sex and I was screaming it. Hey! I was nervous... So anyways, he is like, Whaat? And I'm like, what the hell did I just say?! In fact, there was a pregnancy test one of my college friends had placed in my bag, and it showed positive. So then I had to awkwardly explain it to him and everyone at the cafe and I never went there again. THE END!" And she received a huge applause and a kiss from Hibiki.

"Anyways, I would just like to thank you all for coming and we want to say that we will love our baby and make sure he or she is safe and happy in the world and can have the best life possible and hopefully not get impregnated at sixteen!" Hibiki said, which received the power couple of the day a humongous applause.

After the wedding reception had ended, Erza had to go on another meet and greet. She drove there as quickly as possible and kept her clothes, even though they were probably a bit too formal. She hugged, took pictures with, sang with and did so many things with her fans. It was insane how many people liked her, and the paparazzi had just kept on taking picture after picture. By the end of it, it was late in the night and Erza was pretty tired, but she had one more thing to do.

_Take a chance Erza. You may hate me now, but you have to try. Sorry, don't really wanna hear you pouting to me so mwah, ciao and find your happiness. I wanna kiss Hibiki so buhbay!_

Erza remembered the words that Cana had said to her before she had hung up. She breathed in before calling him,  
"Hey, do you want to hang out?" she asked, unsure of herself.  
"Sure, meet you in 10 minutes, just tell me where,"  
"I'm at the meet and greet, I'm sure you know where," she whispered shyly on the phone. He hung up and she breathed deeply.

As soon as he had arrived, Sting had blocked her from him as he stood in front of her.  
"Hey Erza, I need to tell you something, could you follow me please?" Sting said, but didn't wait for a response as he dragged her away at a dark corner. He put his hand on the wall, next to Erza's face as she had her back to the wall.  
"Listen, I've had a crush on you for these past few days we've been working together and I was hoping that maybe we could go to dinner to-" but he was interrupted by a certain Raven haired teen.  
"Sorry, but she's with me!" he said before grabbing Erza by the hip and slinging her on his shoulder, before running away. Sting cursed his name, knowing that he had clearly done that on purpose.

While he carried the Titania, she had been blushing profusely. They finally stopped by a fountain and he placed her down gently. Erza stared into his eyes, but he looked everywhere but her.  
Gray knew that if there was any better time, it was now. He was not a romantic person, but he had wanted to at least do something special and monumental. He hadn't expected to have to do this so quickly, but he knew it had to be done. Sting was probably one of many who would try to take Erza away from him, so he had to act fast before she went off with some random guy and left her for good.

"I... Okay, this.. this is going to be hard to say, but please wait patiently.. I.. I .. I . I..." He mumbled and stumbled over what he said.  
"You what?" Erza asked curiously.

"I love you Erza Scarlet.." he said before gently placing his lips onto hers. He kissed her slowly, gently, giving her time to escape. Erza was stunned, she was having her first kiss! And with Gray Fullbuster! Maybe Cana was right, maybe she did have to take chances...  
Erza, determined, decided to kiss him back. It felt like a fireworks display on her lips, his freezing cold and hers warm, colliding to create a paradox that she had never thought would exist. She held his left cheek and continued to kiss him, making the kiss deeper and sweeter.

She had finally taken the plunge.

**Tada! All I can say is, I hope you are very happy xD My back is killing me and I've sat on this chair for twelve hours straight, so excuse me if I don't write tomorrow xD! See ya later my adorable chibis and HUGS! \\(*^-^*)/ XXXXX**

**~Roxanne**


	41. Forgetting Me

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Heya again! :D I'm so glad I got chapter 40 over and done with xD I forgot to warn you the previous chapter for over 10k words (It was 12.8 k :p), but you guys seemed to like it a lot :D I'm quite excited for this chapter and the next one as even more things will become clear ;) To be quite honest with you, I know the ending of the story but I have no clue what is happening from chapter 44 onwards (I'm still keeping the last chapter a mystery :p). Sorry for planning it all on a whim, but I like it better this way because I get new ideas everyday that I can put in my story ;p Anyways, I'll stop waffling and thank you again for reading BMRAIBYS! :D I got so many kind reviews, so I better answer them :o**

**Grayza forever: Okay, I'll give you a spoiler, even though you will probably get it right at the start of this chapter xD... **_"Erm.. Uh.. My name is.. My name is Mystogan," he said with uncertainty. _**The key word is uncertainty. Why would he be uncertain about his name, unless.. it wasn't his real name ;p And next chapter, you will get why Lisanna acted the way she did. She is not like Juvia at all (in the anime or manga)! xD You will get why tomorrow, so you just have to be a bit patient :p**

**Grayza: Yes! :D I'm glad you caught on, and now you will understand why in this chapter ;)**

**Grayza forever: I'm so glad you found it adorable! ;D At first, I wanted to do something super romantic that would just be mind blowing to all proportions, but Gray isn't some guy who would go all complicated on something so simple xD My sister then convinced me to make it just simple and I was like, what do I have to lose? Erza probably wouldn't like a massive bouquet of flowers anyway xD... And yeah I did make her quite evil, but you will know why in chapter 43 ;p! And yes, Ultear does have a brother other than Gray and Lyon, but you'll find out this chapter who he is ;) Thank you very much! :D. And don't worry about it! x3 I thought that most people usually ignore those, but I still want to write references so that you can connect the dots. After all, everything happens for a reason ;). And I was always going to put it, even if no one read it! :p**

**Grayza Fan: I know I was happy too when I wrote that scene ;D (and I could get out of the chair that I had sat for half the day on xD..) And this is the next chapter, so I hope you like it :D**

**I'm sorry if you guys hate me, but this chapter doesn't really focus on the Grayza now that they are official, and probably even next chapter x3... Please don't hate me! It's so that the story line is clearer, so don't worry I will try to add them in some parts :) And I'm definitely making you see the new couple on chapter 43 and their adventures ;) Question, what would you guys like to happen for them? :D BTW, links never work on chapters, so when you look for their dresses, it's the first picture x3..**

**Chapter XLI: Forgetting Me**

_Extract from the Diary of "Forgotten"_

I am a mystery masked with pain and sorrow. My existence is non-existent, until now. It would be better to tell my story, but I always feel like there is nothing to tell. What is the point, anyway? Who would care? I certainly have a few billion people in mind. But never mind that, I didn't force myself to write this so I could moan. This is something I have to do, before the next chapter of my life opens. Please be patient, I will get to the point once I finish this long story...

_A disgrace.. Those were the first ever words I heard from my own father. But I see him as a despicable man who does not even deserve to be called that. When my mother was twenty three, she fell in love with a man who she had thought would provide for her. She didn't care too much about the attraction, she just wanted a stable man that could be there for her. That's all she wanted, yet she couldn't get even that. She had to fall in love with Haru Milkovich. You may know him as a conniving business man that owns a prestigious talent agency named Magnolia Star Agency. He is also involved with several Underworld bosses and suspected to have killed many people, but the police cannot blame someone with so much power without having concrete evidence. My mother had seen the ring on his finger, but he had put it on the third finger on his left hand, and not the fourth, so she had thought nothing of it. As soon as they had their first date, it had been straight to the bedroom. When my mother woke up, she rushed to the hospital to check if she was pregnant, and she was, with me. The same night, that scoundrel had raped his wife Ul. You may think that rape is too strong a word if they were married, but it really wasn't. After she had found out about his affair, she had refused to stay near him, threatening for a divorce... This had only been their first year of marriage, so it should have been a clear sign that he wasn't right for her. He had then tied her down and forced her into having sex, and she had been powerless to stop it. Ul also became pregnant. Miraculously, my half-sister and I were born on the same day, only a few seconds after one had been born. The man who had forced my mother into bed had named his first child (Ultear) and then he had stomped to my mother's ward and proclaimed he would name me. If we had been born any earlier in history, he would have been the cruellest dictator. My mother had cried tears, begging him not to name her child. I knew that all I did was glare at him, not bothering to waste my breath to wail. His eyes had twinkled with menace, as if my stoic reaction was something to be proud of. He ordered for my mother to be put on anaesthesia, and she had begged him several times not to, but he never listened. When she was finally asleep, he said my name, as clear as day.__  
__Of course, I had to be cursed with a name that meant, "Greatness, Superiority and Renown." If I had a choice as a baby, I would have laughed in his face. When my mother woke up, she was furious with him. She kept on screaming his name over and over again, cursing it and cursing him. It was evident that she had murderous intentions, but no one would have stopped her (except his extraordinary amount of body guards). All the doctors and nurses pitied her, telling her that he was a monstrous man and that she was not at fault. I would have told her the same. They knew of him and the rumours, and he was certainly never good news. They encouraged her to get a law suit, as he was the biological father of the baby. They warned her not to give him custody, as he would corrupt me, but they knew that taking his money would be something that would surely infuriate him. And that was true. The man is filled with greed and could never not live without his money. My mother took action, like the doctors and nurses told her to, and sued him until he finally gave her money. She was like a warrior, cutting him up even though he had huge armour, slowly making him bleed away his money. I would have loved to be there and watch his distraught face as she took his money away from him. Technically, it wasn't even his. He was just there as the head, sitting there at the top spot. He didn't create any of the music, he had no musical talent, yet no one complained, wanting to have their pay check. It's pathetic to think about it, but we are all puppets in his eyes, him being the puppet master. The only two people he probably could never control were his ex-wife, Ul, and my mother, Minerva. They are probably the strongest women I will ever know, even though they are now both in Heaven, watching over their children. My mother winning the law suit was something that had been inevitable. She had acted like a middle-class single mother who was in dire need of any help she could get, crying until someone had to bring her two whole packets of tissues. I played the court case over and over again, laughing my head off at how stupid Haru looked, trying to say that she was lying and trying to take his money. No one believed him, even his defence attorney didn't. He never wanted to acknowledge me as his son after that, but I really didn't mind. After all, the court case had been a private one. Haru had paid my mother a lot more than what he had intended so she would stay silent about me. He was already in the process of another scandal as one of his artists had quit the agency, saying that everyone in it was corrupt. He didn't want to deal with me or my mother. I would have actually been fucking grateful if he had just never been allowed me to see him, but oh no, he wanted me to be his spawn - to program me to become just like him. I first saw him on my fifth birthday, and he had said something like, "Never cry, or you will not be my son." What did he think I was, stupid? I never wanted to be his son in the first place! But I was forced to, but at the same time making sure I kept my identity secret. I took my mother's surname, not wanting to ever be confused for his son. Maybe by blood, I was, but my heart and mind knew that it was not true. He visited me only three times every year. He should have probably made it less, as I never wanted to see his ugly face after the first meeting. He even bothered to give me money, but I either shredded it or gave it to somebody else. I never wanted his money, and I still don't even now.__  
__Somehow, I lived with the pain of knowing that I would never have a father figure. The one thing that I did gain from the whole disaster was my sister- Ultear Milkovich. The one and sole heiress of his disgusting money, I knew I could never hate her. She was the exact opposite of him, but he moulded her into something she wasn't. Whenever he hurt her in any way, I was there for her. We were like inseparable fraternal twins, not looking anything like each other but having the same birth date at almost the exact same time, even with two different mothers. My mother and I lived miles away from Ultear and Ul, so we didn't visit often. When we did, we usually went out to have a picnic with them, me being the only guy, and just laughing and having fun. Those were the best times, and the only times I felt like we were a complete family. There is this one memory that I can never erase from my mind, and this memory is how everything changed into perspective. I knew my father was not kind, but I had never seen true evil before that day. We were at a family outing and Haru had decided to join in, as he wanted to 'spend more time with his family'. I wasn't buying any of that bullshit, so I was on my guard. Ul and my mother were also on guard, but Ultear loved her father too much to see anything wrong with it. As we were walking towards the ice skating rink, we kept our sentences short and civil, trying not to catch his attention. It worked for a while before it all went to hell.. Ultear was on the ice skating rink, wobbling all over as it was her third time there. I would have laughed at her, but I knew he was staring, and I didn't want his attention to be directed at me, so I watched her in silence. Suddenly, she fell and her knee was grazed, but to my surprise, she didn't cry. She tried standing up, but she kept on slipping. I started getting up to help her, but he held me down. I gave him the most vitriolic glare I ever made in my entire life before bitterly pulling my wrist away from his grip. But before I could reach her, a boy around our age at the time raised her up from her position, and she smiled gratefully before asking him to dance with her. Just as he was about to accept, Haru walked up to her and slapped her so hard that it echoed all around the ice rink, and everybody heard it. His face was completely red with malicious intent, and Ultear could not stop her tears from falling as she held her cheek that had a large, clear hand print. He became even more furious, dragging her away as she screamed for him to let go.. "Daddy, please, stop! I'm sorry! Please! Daddy!" Was all I could hear, over and over again. The crowd watched in silence, and Ul had clearly snapped as well as my mother and I. We all stood up and chased them down, only to find him kicking her continuously in the stomach as she begged for him to stop in the dark alleyway. We stared, horrified, before Ul jumped to protect Ultear from any more of the kicks. He then went on to shove Ul onto the brick wall and continued to kick Ultear. I ran to Ultear and covered her body, allowing him to kick me instead while my mother went to check on Ul, who was unconscious. My mother called the ambulance, and I had several bruises as well as broken ribs. Thankfully, we had arrived before he could do any serious damage to Ultear. But I was still even more resentful of the man who called himself a father to her. I saw blood, the blood of a child being spilled by the person who they saw as a parent. I had sneaked into Ultear's hospital room, making sure that she was fine. Somehow, she still thought that he was a good father, mumbling to herself that he did it to protect her from the bad people. How I wish I could have stopped her.. All she was doing was getting even more hypnotised by a man who never deserved love.__  
__My mother and Ul were both the inspiration that led me to want to protect all the women in my life. I swore an oath to do exactly that after that day, which meant protecting Ultear. But even though I wanted to, after my mother and Ul's deaths, which both happened around the same time, I was sent to Hargeon Town, banished from seeing my sister. I told her to stay strong and not to fall for Haru's deviousness. I knew she wouldn't listen to me, even though she didn't get angry with me.__  
__I had been forgotten for many years, until now. I finally made a plan to save everyone who had suffered because of my father - I decided to join his agency. I do not like using my real name when meeting others, as my "father" was the one who gave me this stupid name. I try making up names, but I never have a solid one I use, always making it up on the spot. The disadvantage is that I can never make any friends that I can keep long term, but this way I can be known by many different names, so that I do not ever get confused as the illegitimate son of the man who owned one of the biggest and most successful companies in Fiore. My mother was never any good at singing, so I thought that it had been passed onto my genetics. Surprisingly, just before her death, she asked me to sing to her. She told me I had the voice of an angel, and I blushed, glad for her compliment. She asked me to enter singing competitions, and I agreed, glad that I could have a talent that I could use to help my mother. At my first ever music competition, I had composed a simple tune for my song. I knew that they would also be judging our composition talent, but I was only an amateur. I felt like the tune wouldn't be important if they heard my singing. An hour before I was supposed to go on stage, I started singing with the tune, trying to polish it to perfection. A boy with Raven hair who had been playing football outside opened the glass door and smirked at me, as if I was lower than him.__  
__"What's your problem?" I asked, irked by his attitude. He wasn't wearing a shirt, even though it was winter and it had been snowing a lot recently.__  
__"Well, I guess that my problem is you. What the hell is that tune? And how do you think you will win with those vocals? And the lyrics are rubbish!" he moaned, clearly enjoying how pissed I looked.__  
__"So what, can you do any better?" I asked, tired of him looking at me like I was inferior. His smile broadened before he took my recording set and started pounding objects together, making a rhythmical beat. The stomping, the crashing, the clicking, the swishing and so many more sounds blurred into one, creating a beat which was raw and made me stare at the genius in front of me. When he was done, he put the sounds all together in an order that was easy to sing to.__  
__"Next, the music. What do you want to fix?" he said, his smile as bright as the sun, showing that he clearly enjoyed music.__  
__"Everything!" I said, equally excited. We worked on the lyrics, as he thought that mine weren't "real" or "sincere" enough. We scrapped my love song and instead wrote a song about what I felt passionate about.__  
__"So what makes you angry? Makes you want to just burn this world in flames and it suffocates every other thought?" he asked. Well, that was clearly a very easy question to answer.__  
__"But why does it have to be so violent?" I asked, not wanting to write about the hatred I felt for him.__  
__"C'mon, Blue haired guy! I just wasted ten minutes of my life creating this sick, angry tune for you and you don't want to rant about anything?"__  
__"Well, there is my father..."__  
__"There! That's great! Just write about how you feel about him and why he has made your life such a misery and boom! We have a hit!" he screamed excitedly.__  
__So that's what I did, writing lyrics about my father and how much anger I felt for him, as well as sorrow for my step mother and sister, thanks to the Raven haired boy's guidance. When we finished the lyrics, I was really proud of them. It matched the quick tempo of the beat and it made me want to sing it over and over again. As I started singing, he stopped me while holding onto his ears. I glared at him as no one insulted my singing.__  
__"Easy, tiger! We need to make you sing like a pro, not like you sing when at the karaoke. Now, try singing it like this:__  
__I can't hear your venom anymore, the tangled web you weaved no longer here!" He sang, his voice powerful yet polished, flawless in my eyes. I tried singing it like he did and he gave me the thumbs up. I continued singing like that in the way he taught me and after I was done, he fist bumped me. I felt truly powerful, ready to take on the world. By the time I had changed the whole song and lyrics, I only had five minutes left.__  
__"Bye," he said, his back already facing me, waving at me without even looking at me.__  
__"Why do you think you're so cool? Can't you wait and support me?" I asked, hoping that I could make a new friend.__  
__"Because I am! And I don't have the time or energy, I have other things to do.."__  
__"Well, at least tell me your name!" I asked, his foot already on the exit. He stood there for a few minutes in silence, probably contemplating whether he should tell me.__  
__"Gray Fullbuster, always remember.. Good luck," he whispered before walking away. There was no doubt that he was a few months younger than me, but he seemed so much wiser than me. Thanks to him, I won that audition, and I never forgot his name..He seemed familiar to me, but from where?...__  
__Right now, I have made a new friend called Mirajane, and I can see that she has had a troubled past, just like me.. Does anyone these days have a normal past? Apparently not.. Today, I have to travel back to Magnolia for a meeting with my father. You may be wondering why I'm doing this, becoming an artist in my father's company._

_Revenge, of course. I will burn his empire down to the ground, nothing being left of it but a distant memory..._

_By the way, my name is Jellal Fernandes_

* * *

**Magnolia Star Agency 8PM - Next Day (After Chapter 40)**

Jellal stood in front of the massive agency, taking it all in. He knew his plan was risky, but he had to do it. Even if he died, he would completely eradicate the evil of Haru Milkovich. A car drove up to him, and he entered it, knowing that this was the 'test' they were going to take him to. The Magnolia Star Agency were infamous for putting debuting stars to random tests to see if they could make it in the world of stars. The driver took him to a concert and Jellal raised his eyebrow. _What the hell am I doing here?_

He walked out of the car and touched his eye, where his birthmark was. It looked like a tattoo, but it wasn't. He had it all his life, and he knew that it would probably never go away. He followed the man in the suit to the backstage area, where he was supposed to do his test. He was asked to change into ripped white jeans and a tartan black and white shirt, and he looked questioningly at them but didn't ask. When they were done, he saw the man who he had never wanted to see.  
"Hello son, how are you?" he asked, but Jellal ignored him and asked him straight to the point,  
"What am I doing here?"  
"... You will be singing with our hottest artist- Ah! There she is! Come here for a second girl," he ordered to the Scarlet haired girl who had been smiling just seconds ago, her clothes making her look like a fallen angel, her clothes as black as an eclipse.  
"This is Erza Scarlet," introduced Haru. Erza smiled and shook Jellal's hand, having no clue what was happening.  
"Erza, he will be singing a duet with you,"  
"But he doesn't even know the song!" Erza exclaimed, more worried about how the fans would take it and if Jellal was okay than how it could affect her stellar performance.  
"It's fine, I made him learn the lyrics. Just let him sing the hook with you as well as the good thoughts in your lyrics, while you will sing the evil thoughts. After all, it will match your dark clothes versus his bright ones."

They both sighed before agreeing. Erza only had a twenty second break, so she quickly took a swing of water before taking Jellal's hand to the main stage. Before they entered, as the music hadn't started yet, Erza whispered to him while covering her headpiece microphone, as well as his.  
"Okay Jellal, all you have to do is pretend to be in love with me. This is kind of a love song, so having you as a guest means they are expecting at least some chemistry. I'm sorry for putting you in an awkward situation, but in this industry, the fans are everything. They are the ones who keep you positive and make you happy, they support you and love you for who you are no matter, what others say. So, let's do it for them?" She breathed out, a light sheen of sweat from performing all day on her forehead. Jellal smiled brightly, remembering the Raven haired boy that had the same charisma as this girl. He nodded to show he understood and Erza smiled even more brightly.

They went on stage and the crowd screamed their hearts out, pleasantly surprised by the new arrival. They both sang in perfect harmony and it was beautiful hearing their dramatic and angelic voices while having a heart-melting performance by the two artists, one that was currently unknown. When they finished their act, Erza deeply bowed, gratefully thanking her fans for making it to the concert and always supporting her. Jellal followed her lead, also bowing to show how grateful he was for them to have made his first official performance such an exhilarating experience.  
"Let's give a warm welcome to our new family member, Jellal!" Erza shouted, and the crowd went wild in applause, whistles and screams at the new hotty in town.

Then, they were whisked away to an emergency meeting, not knowing what to expect. They both sat in the dark room on the comfortable sofas, hoping that they would get an explanation. Haru turned around to face them from his desk and said,  
"You two had great chemistry up on that stage. That's why, to make you two even more famous as well as the company, we will ask you to act like a couple in public."  
"NO!" Erza screamed right away, her face angered as she stood up. Jellal sat cross legged on the sofa, shaking his head with a small smile on his face. _So he really went there..__  
_"Miss. Scarlet, this is not a request, this is an order. If you do not comply, you will be kicked out of this agency," he said, his voice frigid. Erza scoffed before laughing loudly, not intimidated by the imposing man.  
"You think that I won't get asked to join another agency?" she said, her arms at her sides as she glared him down.  
"Oh really?.. Fine. Think about it, I will give you two days. And you, Jellal, what do you say?" Haru said in a booming voice, angered that his best artist was rebelling.

Jellal knew that Erza was special the moment he saw her. These days, no one particularly cared for the people who supported them, but she did. She also dealt with change quickly and was selfless, something that other humans did not possess the ability of being. He also admired the way she stood up to him, something that _no one _had ever dared to do. Jellal stood up and smirked at his father before saying, "Of course I won't accept your deal," before walking out of the exit. Erza followed suit, angry that the world of stardom was truly corrupted. She was grateful to Jellal for not accepting, but when she tried to find him, he had disappeared.

But Haru Milkovich wouldn't give up so easily. He would fight, and he would always win...

**And done! ;D I started this at 6:40, so sorry for the late update xD At least I hope you like this chapter, because I did :D And btw, don't worry, I will give more details about the songs. I was too lazy to write any songs, but I know what her album is called and every single in it, so you will find about it soon ;p. And see? Jellal is such a great character, I'm so proud that he's not evil.. At least, not completely xD! I hope you all stay safe and remember: revenge isn't always the best thing to do ;) Bye my adorable little chibis :3 HUGS! \\(*^-^*)/**

**~Roxanne**


	42. The Sister Of Forgotten

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: So here's another chapter for you guys ;) This is mostly just a filler chapter but also continues the story plot, so I hope you like it :D I hope you have a great day and stay happy and yeah xD**

**Grayza Fan: I'm so glad you like his character :D And I told you I wasn't making him evil, at least not completely ;p! And of course I'm making at least Jellal remember his childhood idol ;) And as I said, Jellal isn't evil, so he won't be a love rival :p But there will be tons of drama, don't worry ;)**

**Grayza forever: As I've said, I haven't really finished FT, so when I searched who Minerva was, I didn't actually think she was a character! :o She was supposed to be an OC because my sister just gave me a random name, but if you want to, you can make Minerva Orlando the mother of Jellal xD.. And of course Jellal is a vengeful soul ;p And I know I wrote it to seem that way, but Jellal won't be interfering with Grayza xD There is already enough drama later in the story ;) And thank you so much! :D And I guess Haru is a bit like Zeref, but he's completely different to him and just an OC xD**

**Chapter XLII: The Sister of Forgotten**

Ultear sat on the sofa of the modern hotel, waiting for the only man who she could completely trust in her life. _Jellal... _She sat with one leg crossed while she scrolled through the countless of messages from her so called "friends". She wished he would hurry up because even the air conditioning wasn't helping her in that moment, as she felt like she was slowly suffocating. She finally had enough and opened the balcony door, taking her shoes off and dangling her feet as she sat down, the fence the only thing keeping her from falling. Suicide had never really been a thought for Ultear as she felt like _What is the point? _Taking your own life when there is so much that can make you happy in the future? The present always seems really tiring and there seems to be no point in going on, but Ultear knew that her future, even if it ended up being really far away, would make her live in happiness and prevail at life. Ultear had stolen Jellal's diary because she had known that he was not an emotional person, not after all the years of isolation he had gone through. His diary had been named "Forgotten", and she knew in her heart that it was perfect for him. After his mother had died, as well as Ul, her father had never wanted to see him again. Whether it was because he knew that he wasn't obliged to give any more money to Jellal or because the memory of his dead mistress haunted him, Ultear hadn't known at the time. Ultear now knew in her heart that the former was more likely. Ultear took the wine from the balcony floor that she had used just yesterday when she had arrived at the hotel and drank straight from it, not seeing where her wine glass was. Ultear felt truly pitiful for how she had lived her life, but she knew that for the main characters to prevail, there had to be an antagonist. And what better person to be the antagonist than herself?

_"Ultear, I hate my name! I hate it, I hate it!" Jellal moaned to his sister, his face showing only anger.__  
__"Why Jelly?" she asked, confused. She loved his name and it had the best qualities as the meaning.__  
__"Because he named me! I wanted my mother to name me, she would have chosen something good.."__  
__"Jelly, we are ten, for goodness sake! I'm sure that you can make up your own name, instead of acting like a baby!" Ultear said jokingly while poking his cheek, which made him crack a smile.__  
__"Okay then, what name?" he asked, amused by his sister.__  
__"Well.. what about.. Mystogan? I like it, and it sounds mysterious. So whenever someone meets you, you can act as if you are shrouded in mystery.. Or maybe even Siegrain! That sounds so epic, like you are the boss of a big company!" Ultear beamed. Jellal laughed at his sister, glad that even though she lived with that ruthless man, she could still act like herself.__  
__"I don't want the company, it's all yours!" Jellal said bitterly.__  
__"Jelly, you know that you can also have the company! We can share it, I don't mind!" she begged, hoping that her brother would smile again. Sadly, it only made him even more bitter.__  
__"Are you serious? No thanks, I don't want his filthy money..."__  
__They sat in silence for a while, Ultear hoping that it would give her brother time to cool off._

When Ultear had heard Jellal's plan, she had thought that a) he was completely crazy and b) he couldn't be serious! He hated their father's money and company, yet he wanted to be the head of it, only to then burn it down in flames. It was actually quite ironic, because now he actually needed the company to aid his plan of making his father pay. Ultear could understand that he didn't really like their father, but she hadn't understood why, until now. In the past, she had thought that her father was acting the way he did to protect her and he only did what was best for them. Now, she saw things in a different light..

_I was young and always looking to make it big in the world. One thing I knew my mother loved was ice skating, so I wanted to be like her so that she would be happier about having me as a daughter. I fell and I tried to get up, but I couldn't. After several tries, a hand reached out for me. It had been the boy I had been crushing on for a few months. I gratefully took his hand, only to hear loud stomps in the background. Next thing I knew, my father had slapped me in the face. I knew why he did it.. I had told him about this guy I had a crush on, and he had told me that crushes and love made you weaker. I had disobeyed him and continued to have a crush on him, but it wasn't like I knew how to stop it from developing. I wanted to feel love, even though I knew I would never get it if my father was around. When he slapped me, I had thought that he was so unfair. No other dad in the school ever hurt or slapped their child, yet he always did it to me when I did something 'wrong'. I didn't think I was disobedient, and I respected everything my father said, but that was enough. I knew that I couldn't hold the tears that I had kept for so long. The pain of not being truly loved, of having a father who hurts you for being kind, to be treated like a rich, spoiled princess by others, making others hate you without even getting to know you. And it also hurt like hell, that fucking slap. It made my whole face burn and I wanted the pain to go away, but it just wouldn't go. He became furious with me and dragged me away, making everyone see my shame. I was scared, because I didn't know what he was going to do. He had told me never to cry, and I had broken that promise in public. The next thing I knew, I was in a dark alleyway on the floor, crying and screaming for help as he kicked me over and over again. I wanted to stand up, but I knew I was coughing blood and my body wouldn't move. It felt horrible, feeling weak, like no one can help you. My mother was then shoved, trying to protect me and then even Jellal got kicked several times, getting even more hurt than me. I think I passed out, and I found myself at a hospital. Jellal soon came into my room, his bruises not visible as he had covered them, trying not to make me worry. I promised myself never to cry because I never wanted to see my brother so hurt. In that moment, I hated my father, but then I felt guilty, so I tried to erase my thoughts. It worked. I was like a computer, always erasing bad memories and things I didn't like to make my life easier. The only thing I couldn't erase was what Erza told me. Even if Jellal told me my father wasn't good for me, I would always erase it so that I didn't have to hate him. He never directly told me why I should not like my father, he always said that I should just live with him instead or something ridiculous like that. But when Erza said it, I really couldn't erase it, no matter how hard I tried, because she told me everything wrong with my father..__  
__And I knew it was all true..._

Ultear had figured out her father's plan as soon as she had discovered where Jellal was headed... Erza's concert. It was obvious that he wanted Jellal, as the heir to the Agency, to date his most prominent star. When Ultear had discovered that Erza was part of the Agency, she had gone berserk and had told her father that she wouldn't manage the company when he retired. As soon as she had said that, she knew that the company was no longer hers. Complaining to him was one of the things he disliked, so Jellal had instantly been seen as the heir, even after he had ignored his son for so many years.

Ultear found it truly despicable that her father was using Jellal and Erza for a publicity stunt. It was vile and immoral, forcing two people to act as if they were in love, even if they weren't. And the worst thing was, Jellal couldn't escape from it. Jellal had been blackmailed, and there was no way that they could refuse. Their father had threatened Jellal that he wouldn't get the company and that he would never be allowed to make any money or work, and he would be blacklisted everywhere. It was grotesque how much power her father had... And Erza? Well, that was pretty obvious to Ultear. After all, they had been 'friends'..  
He would expose her private life and tell everybody about her cancer, as well as make sure that her parents were imprisoned and killed in a foreign country.

_"Erza! Stop splashing me!" Ultear squealed.__  
__"This is revenge!" giggled Erza.__  
__"Okay, okay, now stop!"__  
__"Fine, but don't expect me to forgive you!"__  
__The two girls sat on the grass, trying to stop laughing. Erza suddenly started coughing, before wheezing slowly. Ultear could only stare, terrified for her friend.__  
__"Erza.. Please... Tell me.." Ultear whispered, hoping that she wasn't prying too much. Erza sighed before smiling at her best friend, like hiding her big secret was a relief.__  
_"_Well... How do I start?" She giggled. ".. I have a disease.. Cancer.. No one knows what it is, but it's going to kill me. I was actually supposed to die from birth, but I'm somehow still here. They say I only have a few months, but I don't want to believe them anymore... I have been living all this time, so why not a few more years? I guess death doesn't scare me now, but sometimes, I have these nightmares and I just feel like..." Erza stopped, her eyes large as she thought about the things that she had tried to hide from her friend. Ultear shuffled closer to her friend, hoping that another presence would be comfortable to her friend. Erza faced Ultear before continuing, "Ultear, I don't want anything to happen to my parents.. Every month, they go to a different country trying to find a cure for this.. disease inside me. I want them to stop, I want them close to me. I have terrible nightmares that they won't be there for me and will die in some other country and I will be truly alone..." Erza said before sniffling a little.__  
__"Erza, if they go, you will always have me!" Ultear smiled. Erza elbowed her in the ribs and Ultear screamed.__  
__"Please don't jinx it! But... thank you.."_

Ultear tried to see the man she had lived with almost her whole life, trying to see him in her own eyes as well as in the eyes of others..

_Ultear watched television as she heard her parents arguing, but she tried to ignore it. Her mother had come to visit her after Ultear had come back, but her father had wanted to argue yet again. Ultear raised the volume of the programme and started covering her ears with her hands before singing a tune that was neither good or rhythmical, but it helped annul the noise. She then proceeded to run upstairs and turn on all the radios and anything that made a sound. But it didn't help. All she could hear was her parents arguing through the noise. And there was nothing she could do to stop it. She tip-toed down the stairs, hoping to maybe do something, before she heard a loud crashing sound. Ultear visibly trembled, hearing the loud scream only a few metres away from her. Her father had pushed her into a wall. She ran up the stairs, hoping to never have to experience that. She prayed for her mother to be alright, even though she knew that she would probably have new bruises.._

_..._

_Ultear was talking with Jellal, trying to guess his favourite colour. Her father had suddenly appeared and told Jellal to leave, but Jellal hadn't heard him. Then, her father went on to grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him until Jellal felt sick, but Jellal had not looked scared once, only defiant. He had placed Jellal back down harshly, and he had fallen as he had lost his balance. Jellal had then stood up and kissed Ultear on the cheek before walking away with a slight limp._

_.._

_Ultear was celebrating her Birthday, hoping that people had been invited. But no one had arrived, and Ultear had felt dismal. Her father had then arrived two hours later and told her that other people were useless and they would only betray her, so he had not sent anyone an invitation to her party, even though she had politely asked him to. He had even banned her mother, her step-mother and her brother from coming. Ultear could only nod at his explanation, thinking it was the right thing._

_._

_Ultear was the heiress to her father's dynasty, so she had wanted to shadow him for a day to see his usual business. He went on a considerable amount of meetings, harshly censuring all his artists and telling them that their work was not enough, and that they were not making enough money. He was rancorous, making everyone suffer and making sure that the most amount of profit was made. It was heinous to watch and Ultear could not believe how ruthless he was. Maybe she really could never be like him..._

Ultear could now see a lot more clearly what others saw in her father. She was about to take another swing of wine when a hand snatched it away from her and sat down on the balcony next to her, their feet also dangling on the edge.  
"You know you aren't allowed to drink this, right sis? It's bad for you," Jellal said while slightly leaning on his sister.  
"Jelly, I'm an adult, it's fine!" she said before trying to snatch it away from him. He then proceeded to poke her on her forehead and say,  
"You are a child, stop acting like you know everything."  
"Hmph.. So are you.." was all she could say.  
"True," He chuckled. Ultear sneakily placed her hand on top of his and held it, hoping to give him strength with her unspoken words.  
_It's okay, brother.__  
__I'm sorry for not realising how cruel our father is...__  
__I'm always here for you._

"Ul?" Jellal said.  
"Don't call me that!" Ultear glared at him.  
"I will call you whatever I like! You have to stop thinking that your mother was weak. She wasn't, especially if she lived with that man!"  
"I know, I know... But I never thought of her as weak.. I just.. I just don't want what happened to her to happen to me.." she whispered. Jellal squeezed her hand, hoping to reassure her.  
"Ul.. I'm sorry that your friendship with that girl didn't work out.. She was good for you.. She made you happy.." Jellal whispered before taking a swing at the wine. Ultear had actually never told him the name of the only person who had been her true friend and had also stood up to her father.  
"Yeah.. Me too, Jelly. I wish I could have seen what Erza saw, but now it's too late... Anyway, I have to play the role of the villain for her fairytale to come true..."

Jellal sat in silence, contemplating what he had just heard.  
_Could she be the same Erza?..._

* * *

**Magnolia Star Agency - Same day, 9 PM**

"Fine,"  
"Sure,"

Erza and Jellal had agreed to their fates, knowing that there was no going back. There was nothing they could do as Haru had exploited their worst fears.. Erza couldn't live without her parents, as they were always there for her, even if they weren't physically there. If they were gone, she knew she couldn't cope..  
And Jellal needed to get the Agency, or he couldn't beat his father. His only goal was to beat him, for Ultear's sake, for his mother and step-mother's sake and most of all, for everybody else's sake who were bound to this company.

**\\(*^-^*)/**

**A few hours before...**

"Gray.. I just can't! I don't know what to do... He's going to take my parents away from me, but I don't want to act like I'm in love with someone else when... when..."  
Erza was hugging Gray on her couch in her living room, completely at a loss of what to do. The boss, Haru Milkovich, had sent her an email as well as an attachment with a picture of her parents on camels, still trying to find a cure for her. Erza knew that she had cried enough, so she had called her boyfriend to help her. It was strange suddenly seeing him as more than a friend when she had tried so long to hide her feelings for him. Erza wasn't born yesterday.. She knew she had feelings for him a long time ago, probably on the day they had met. It had developed the closer they had gotten to each other, their experiences making her fall deeper and deeper for she knew she was a good actress, so it had been easy to hide her feelings and lock them away, but when he had kissed her, she knew there was no backing out. It had been pure bliss letting the locks in her heart finally unlock and show what she had really felt all the time. Every day she thought about him, and her heart had sped up uncontrollably and even missed a couple beats. The small kisses on her cheeks and the amount of times he had flirted with her had made her obsessed by his touch. She knew they were together, even though they hadn't needed to define their relationship.

He pulled away from the hug before looking in her eyes. He gently kissed her cheek before whispering in her ear as he embraced her,  
"Erza, do whatever you need to do. It's your choice. But don't worry, I don't mind you acting like you are in love with another guy. After all, I know you love me, so just imagine me when you are with him. And if you have to kiss in public, I'll just kiss you ten more times until you can't stop blushing," he whispered seductively. Erza pulled away from his hug before looking at him incredulously and saying, "You cocky bastard!" and kicking him in the shin. Gray held his knee cap in pain while apologising as the Titania left, but secretly, they were both smiling.

**And I'm done :p I added the last part because I felt like it was necessary for a sweet ending ;) Stay beautiful my adorable little chibis :3! And thank you again for everything ;)**

**~Roxanne**


	43. Triple

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: HI! xD I don't think I have anything to say about this chapter other than that it will be very revelatory :p Hope you enjoy this and yeah :p**

**Grayza Fan: There will be Jerza moments but in the public eye :p And Sting has been gotten rid of long ago, but he will try to go with Erza countless times ;)**

**Sukaretto20: I'm glad you liked the fluff :3 And haha! xD You will get why he's such a major baddie when you get to see his POV ;) But you will hate him a bit more :p**

**Chapter XLIII: Triple**

**The Strauss Mansion 8AM - 3 days after Chapter 42**

Lisanna paced up and down inside her sister's bedroom, knowing that she had committed a terrible mistake. Yes, it wasn't her fault, but she felt so responsible. Her brother, Elfman, sat in his chair emailing his new girlfriend, hoping that his sister would leave his room soon. After she had woken up, she had acted very strangely in the sense that sometimes she was clingy and cared for her family and other times, hated the world. It was weird for him as he wasn't used to it, but he thought that it was just the effects of the coma.

Lisanna finally stopped pacing and knew what she had to do. Using Mirajane's fully charged phone, she called the one person she knew she needed to talk to: Lucy, Natsu's girlfriend.  
"Hey Mira, what's wrong? I haven't heard from you in ages!" Lucy said, her voice sounding strained and tired, even though she tried sounding chipper. Lisanna stayed silent for a few seconds, unsure of how to talk to her or what to say..  
"Mira?..Mira, are you there?" Lucy said, sounding even more worried and strained. Lisanna felt really bad, so she spoke up,  
"Hi.." Lucy immediately recognised who was speaking, but she didn't know what to say.  
"It's me, Lisanna... I'm sorry, but we need to talk," she whispered, hoping that Lucy would say yes.  
"I'm sorry, I don't think that I -"  
"Please, Lucy! I need to talk to you urgently! If I don't you will hate me forever without knowing the reason why!" Lisanna shouted, tears falling from her wet eyes. Her brother swivelled around, wondering why his sister was acting so agitated. Lisanna turned to face him and shook her head, hoping he would get the message not to disturb. There was silence for a while before Lucy spoke up,  
"Sure.." Lucy then went on to tell her address and Lisanna thankfully took it all in before clicking the off button. Lisanna knew that what she had to do was urgent, so she ignored her attire and drove straight to the Heartfilia/Dragneel apartment (even though she was wearing her pyjamas).

Lisanna parked and rang the doorbell, hoping that Lucy would answer. Lucy answered straight away, and Lisanna saw the havoc she had caused. Her eyes were red and her face had dried tears, showing that she had cried. She was also wearing pink pyjamas and her clothes were crumpled, showing that she had probably been in bed all day and not left it. She was standing bare footed and she looked a lot skinnier, as if she hadn't eaten anything. It looked like she had ran a lot as there was gravel and cement under the soles of her feet. Lisanna couldn't stop herself from hugging Lucy, and Lucy was surprised before she fell into the hug, wondering why the person who had caused her pain was acting so nice to her. Lucy showed her up the stairs to the apartment, and she could instantly see what was wrong, but she didn't want to pry, knowing that she had to explain everything before it was too late.

They sat on the couch and faced each other, Lisanna studying Lucy's features while Lucy looked at the ceiling in despair. Lisanna shyly held Lucy's hand, which also surprised Lucy, and she started to speak.  
"Listen Lucy, there is something I have to tell you, and I'm sorry if you hate me now, but I hope you will hate me a little less after I tell you... I haven't told anyone about this, even my sister, so please bear with me if I take my time. But before I start, I want to tell you that I am truly sorry for everything I have caused, even though I had no part in it.."  
Lucy raised an eyebrow as she looked incredulously at the White haired girl in front of her. Lucy also noticed that she had cut her hair medium length, and it suited her. Lisanna laughed at Lucy's expression, which made Lucy even more curious about the mystery that Lisanna held that she couldn't even tell Mira.

"What I am about to tell you is very important to me, so I hope that you can be patient with me.. I'm sorry that I'm stalling so much, it's just that I really don't know how to start... It might be a long story, but please bear with me Lucy. I hope that my explanation will make you forgive me, even if it's only a little... As you know, Natsu is my childhood friend and I would never do anything to make him unhappy.. when I am conscious.."

_It all started when I was two, but I guess I had it since the day I was born. It wasn't noticeable because the whole point of it was to be childlike and happy-go-lucky= Personality number one. Her name is Lulu. She was the one everyone thought was normal when I was a child, because the whole point of her was to be happy. She always asked for things and gave people puppy dog eyes to get what she wanted. She was always harmless and she didn't do anything bad, as long as she got what she was asked. She never demanded anything too hard to get and she was always kind to others. She was probably the definition of sweet. One time, there had been a lost puppy and she had searched everywhere for the owner, not caring about her clothes being caked in mud or the amount of gutters she had passed through. In the end, she did find the owner of the dog and it had been a touching moment, but she had also lost her way home and she was covered in filth. She had cried for hours before her parents had found her, after the police had helped her. The reason why Lulu existed was because even though I was a happy enough child, I had grown up too quickly, knowing the dangers of the world and how hard life could really be. I had lost my childhood innocence too quickly, so Lulu was there to make me seem happier and accumulate happy memories. While she is present, I can see everything she does and I am conscious while she essentially 'lives'. She may have seen normal then, but now everyone wonders why I act so happy all of a sudden and want a lot more than I need. She made me smile and always talked to herself.. I mean me, to cheer me up when I felt sad. She always appeared randomly, but she made my day and made sure that I was happy.__  
_Then.. there was the possessive over Natsu= Personality number two. She appeared the day I met Natsu after Mirajane had told me so many incredible things about him. I had started obsessing over meeting such a great guy and when it did, it spiralled downwards. Mirajane had been talking to me and then all of a sudden, I switched into her... Alva. Of course, her name meant evil. I didn't see it coming and I just felt an emptiness, a darkness inside me. As soon as I knew about her, I knew that I needed to get rid of her. Anytime a girl approached Natsu, I felt my body being taken over by someone else as I fell deeper into darkness, and I didn't know what she did. All I could see was the aftermath, a girl crying in front of me and nodding her head violently, as if agreeing to something I had previously said before running away. I didn't know what to do about her, so I went to visit my grandmother. She knew about personality disorders as she had previously had a personality, and she had somehow gotten rid of her. I had spoken to her, saying that a friend had a personality disorder that wanted to get rid of it. She told me that the only thing that this 'friend' could do was allow her to cause havoc until she had finally completed what she had appeared to do. So that's what I chose to do, without telling anyone. I didn't think it would work, but I tried it, even though I saw people who knew me suddenly hate or fear me, as if I was a monster... That's why, when I had the accident, I had prayed not to wake up, no matter what. Maybe time could make her go away, so that I wouldn't have to deal with her and the misery she had spread in my life. I guess that's why I was in that coma so long.. But when I woke up, she was still inside me, and I knew. After calling Natsu, I had quickly charged the phone and searched forums for the disorder, hoping they could help me... But the thing was, there weren't any good answers, and there was this one option I could have taken, but it scared me.._  
_It said that if I got rid of Alva, I would also have to get rid of Lulu.. Lulu was like my guardian angel, so there was no way that I would ever get rid of her.. And Alva finally took it a step further by trying to ruin your relationship with Natsu.. When she has control of my body, there is nothing I can do to make her stop.. I just feel darkness, and there is nothing I can do to stop her from acting out.. And then there's me= Personality number three. Lisanna Strauss. I'm really sorry Lucy..__

Lucy had finally understood. Because Lisanna has no conscious recollection of what Alva did, it was not her fault for what happened. Lucy hugged Lisanna, and Lisanna started crying, glad that she could finally make amends with her. After they pulled away from the long hug, Lisanna stared into Lucy's eyes and took in a deep breath before saying,  
"Lucy.. Where did Natsu go?" Lucy exhaled, knowing that the question was inevitable. After all, all of Natsu's belongings were gone and the house looked half empty. Only Lucy's stuff remained, the shadows of what Natsu had taken completely gone. Lucy shed a tear before saying,  
"..He's gone.."

Lisanna looked at the door with severity before saying, "I swear an oath to you Lucy that I will find him, no matter where he is.."

And she knew exactly where to find him..

_His father..._

**Finito! :p So I still don't have much to say, so just be happy and remember to cherish your friends my adorable little chibis ;)**

**~Roxanne**


	44. Like a Red Rose

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Heya! :D Sorry for not writing for a week, school is back and ready to torture me for 7 more weeks xD.. And it's only going to get a lot harder.. Anyway, I'm not here to complain! xD As you will have probably guessed, more Grayza fluff! ;D Again, I'm sorry for not adding much of it in the previous chapters, but I needed to move the plot along ;p And can you guess how many chapters there will be, because it's getting extremely close to the end ;)? Don't worry, after I finish this story, there will be more as I've actually planned them before hand :p (3 are prompts from my amazing friends and 2 are from me :p). Hope you have a great day and enjoy chapter 44 ;) Btw, I realised that searching for some clothes doesn't come up with what I wrote, so just look at the dress that is the most similar to the description, or just choose your favourite dress xD..**

**Grayza forever: And yes, she does ;p That was one of the big mysteries ;p And I'm sorry you are confused, what part didn't you get so that I can explain it to you? :o I'll make sure to keep it up and thank you very much :D!**

**Grayza Fan: I'm really glad you enjoyed chapter 43! ;D**

**Chapter XLIV: Like a Red Rose**

Erza hummed her latest song, "Like a Rose" loudly, happily making her new album. Thanks to Jellal, she had been given more time to make a concept for her album and write down all the songs, and she was finally finished. She smiled proudly at her computer screen, happy that all the songs were in chronological order and followed the same story line. It still seemed unbelievable that less than a month ago, Erza had been a normal (well, not really) high school student who was going to graduate in two years and start a career in law. Now, she was doing the job she loved: being an artist. Even though she still wanted to be a lawyer, she had wanted to sing to others all her life, and now she finally had the chance to. She revised the album, making sure it was perfect once more. After all, it was pretty ambitious as it was in a story format, meaning that there would be no pauses and it would be like a one hour movie in song.

1\. Our Affair- A song about two lovers meeting at a coffee shop and having a heated affair, not knowing anything about each other. The guy dies and the girl visits him at his grave before walking away, only to find out that he actually had a wife.

2\. Silence- The girl traps herself in her bedroom, going crazy. She thinks she can hear her dead boyfriend, but in the end there's just silence, and she's all alone, having no one stay by her side. She cries herself to sleep and arrives in Dreamland.

3\. Dreamland- The girl has this crazy dream were all her wishes are true and her dead boyfriend is alive, she is a celebrity and the president and has everything she could wish for, but people are rebelling, and they don't want her in Dreamland, so they want to kick her out.

4\. Your Voice Becomes One- The people are rebelling, and more and more people are joining those who do not want the girl as the president, even though she has brought peace throughout Dreamland. They enter her mansion and slowly burn it all away, and her boyfriend says he will protect her with his life. As they are running away, the rebels are coming closer, so her lover tells her to leave him and he will fight them. She refuses to leave, but he asks one of her subjects to take her away and he stays there to battle the rebels. The girl is heartbroken.

5\. Like a Red Rose- The girl is in hiding and she is with her loyal subject. They are starving and have barely any food or water, and all she wants to do is give up, as her lover is probably either being tortured or dead. As they are escaping to another city, they find out that her lover has actually taken her kingdom and all the rebels were following his orders. She rushes back there, only to see him with the girl who she had seen in the real world as his wife. She tried to attack her, but her ex lover stabs her with a knife in the heart and watches her slowly die while he says, "Wilt like a red rose, Let the blood flow like a red rose and die..."

6\. Fickle Trust- The girl was saved by her loyal subject as he mended her wounds, but the girl is no longer herself. She is now as callous as a robot, and does not have even one ounce of sympathy or compassion. She swears to kill the man who she had loved with all her heart, killing innocents along the way. No one can stop her, as revenge is the only thing that fuels her. A large scar covers her heart, and every day she curses herself for ever loving him. Her ex lover tries to find her and he succeeds, but she only tries to kill him, but he doesn't die. She realises he was a ghost all this time and he wasn't actually real, because he died in the real world. Everything around her starts disappearing and she realises that she is awake, crying silent tears as her "loyal subject" was actually her good friend who had the keys to her home, trying to wake her up.

7\. Drowning from the Flood- As she falls asleep yet again, the girl is underwater and somehow, she can breathe. She follows a light the whole time, knowing that it is her lover. She realises that he is showing her memories of him and her together, their hopes and their dreams and finally, a letter he had left for her that she had forgotten about. In the end, she realises that the water is her tears and that she is slowly drowning, as she can't breathe in it anymore. She reaches out for the fading light, knowing that she is dying inside.

8\. Let me be Beside you- The girl wakes up and rushes to find the letter that she had forgotten. She runs and runs, her friends and her demons trying to stop her, telling her that it is useless and that he never loved her. She doesn't listen and runs from location to location, hoping to find his letter. Finally, she remembers where his letter is- with his wife. She runs to her, but she feels a dark aura emanating from the room and she knows that if she enters, she probably won't get out alive. As she enters, the wife has dry tears in her eyes and she gives the girl the letter, and the letter explains how he had called for an annulment several times, but the wife refused because she had wanted to have the money from the divorce, and she would only get it when they had been married for five years or when he was dead, and that he did truly love her and only her. As she cries, she realises that the wife killed him, and she tries to run away from the wife, because she knows she will get killed too. In the end, the wife stabs her in the exact location that he had stabbed her before in Dreamland, in the heart. As she slowly bleeds to death, she thinks, "Let me be beside you".

9\. The Purgatory of it All- The girl is trapped in purgatory as her actions from Dreamland have affected her judgement. She knows that her lover is in Heaven, so she wants to know how to get out of Purgatory. The angels tell her that she has to forgive everyone that has harmed her, but she just can't seem to forgive the wife. So she stays in Purgatory, trying to make herself forgive the woman who separated her from the one and only person who could have loved her; her soul mate. But she wants to be reunited with him, so she begs herself to forgive the wife, but to no use, so she goes to Hell.

10\. Soliloquy of the Damned (Desperate Cry)- In Hell, the girl feels the torture and pain of the fires that scorch her skin, even though there are no marks to prove it. She suffers all alone, and she goes temporarily insane and starts talking to herself, questioning everything in her life, cursing the man who she had thought loved her. She turns on everyone and trusts no one, the pain of being alone making her weak and vindictive. She can't find peace in herself, and laments about her hardships and why she had to be cursed just because she met the man she had wanted to love forever.

11\. Dreamland II- She falls asleep and she is back in Dreamland. Dreamland is in chaos and there is no order, as there are no rulers. Her loyal subject returns and asks her to take the throne, but she refuses, not wanting another rebellion. Instead, she tries to make all the clans go to peace with each other, making friendly negotiations and making sure that the past animosity is gone. When she does this for the whole kingdom, they beg for forgiveness, saying that she is the best leader and want her in throne. She accepts and she does her duty as Queen, but what she doesn't know is that if she stays there too long, she will be trapped forever and she will never meet her lover. Her lover comes to her as a ghost and tells her to leave Dreamland, but she refuses, so he kisses her and she finally realises that she has to leave. She makes her loyal subject King and she runs away, back to the real world. She sees a light and knows that she will be reunited with her lover, so she runs to it.

12\. I Love You- The girl is back in the real world: no Dreamland, no Purgatory, no Hell and no Heaven. She is standing in front of the coffee shop, and through the window she sees her lover. As they catch each other's eyes, he looks at her and gives her a little wave, as if they were strangers. The girl knows she has another chance of making it right and making her relationship work so that history doesn't repeat itself. She enters the coffee shop and they talk. She starts out their relationship as friends and helps him get an annulment on his marriage, and they also get married.

The End

Erza finished reading it, impressed that she had actually been able to complete it. And what made her even more excited was that Gray would also be playing the lover of the girl, while Erza would (of course) be the girl. As she sent the email to everyone who was involved in her management, as well as in the shooting of the album, Gray sent her a message from the website they first met on.

_Iceboy: Congratz! Seems pretty epic, if I do say so myself. And lots of making out to do as well ;)_

_Titania: When did I write that?!_

_Iceboy: I just wrote it in now and sent it to everyone ;)_

_Titania: Gray!_

_Iceboy: What sweetie?_

_Titania: Please don't call me that, or I will eviscerate you._

_Iceboy: C'mon, we are dating now! Isn't it like customary to have pet names?_

_Titania: No_

_Iceboy: Harsh :'(_

_Titania: Do not care. So, what did you want from me?_

_Iceboy: Wow, and I thought you would be sweeter when you were dating me... Guess not..._

_Titania: Get to the point Gray!_

_Iceboy: Okay Erza, chill! Geezz... Anyway, I wanted to ask you on a date :)_

_Titania: A... what?_

_Iceboy: Who gave you education on human relationships, because they really need to be sacked!... A date is when two people who are going out with each other go together somewhere and -_

_Titania: I know what a date is, you bastard! I'm asking, why now?.._

_Iceboy: Well... We haven't gone on a date once after we have started dating, and I want to hang out with you.. So, will you?_

_Titania: Romance really isn't dead with us two xD!... And of course I will go on a date with you, but remember the dating boundaries!_

_Iceboy: Oh for fuck's sake, forget about the stupid dating boundaries! Why the hell can't I kiss, or hug, or even hold hands with my own girlfriend?! x(_

_Titania: Because.. I'm new at this whole relationship thing, so please give me time..._

_Iceboy:..._

_Titania: Pretty please?_

_Iceboy:.._

_Titania: I'll buy all the strawberry cheesecakes on our date? :)_

_Iceboy: You've got yourself a deal! Even though I find the dating boundaries pretty stupid, as we have done all those things even when we weren't dating!_

_Titania: Oh shush, Iceboy ;) See ya later._

_Titania has logged off_

* * *

**Pavement 4:40 PM**

"Gray, let go!" Erza screamed at him, pissed that he never listened to her. He had tried to hold her hand again, and she was having none of it. "If you dare try again, you know what I'll do!" Gray finally stopped, hoping that he could spare his ribs. As they walked along in comfortable silence to the cheesecake shop, Gray softly hummed "Our Affair", which pleased Erza as he actually cared about her music. Erza stared at her boyfriend absentmindedly, wondering when he would have to meet his 'Love rival'. Jellal was a nice guy, but he wasn't Gray. But Gray was also not the most calm person in the world... He was probably the most jealous boyfriend in the world, even though he didn't like to show it. His expression darkened at the thought of other guys with Erza, and it only made her laugh. She knew that if it was the other way round, she would have probably murdered someone, but because Gray wasn't internationally famous, the girls backed away from him because they knew that he was a friend of Erza. The whole media had gone wild when they had heard about her and Jellal, the boss' son. Some people had gone ballistic and others had loved it as people shipped her with the guy in her video, seeing their love as being too real to be fake. So now, the population was split in half between Grayza lovers and Jerza lovers. Because of this, Erza had been forced to add Jellal in her album, just to stir up gossip. He was the loyal subject of the main girl, and he was in several videos. She knew that Haru secretly wished that she would go together with Jellal, but she knew that it was never going to happen.

Without noticing, as she was completely absorbed in her thoughts, Gray gently held Erza's hand, so now they were walking hand in hand. As he knew she wouldn't get out of her stupor, he kissed her lightly on the cheek, something that she had also said was a no in the dating agreement, which he had signed with his fingers crossed. Erza finally woke up from her reverie and glared at him, trying to get his hand off hers, but his wouldn't budge, so she let out a frustrated grunt. He smiled broadly and they walked a few more steps to find that the cheesecake shop was closed. Devastated, Erza had her mouth agape. As he dragged her away, she kept on looking at the closed shop, willing it to open.

As they walked along the park path, Erza sighed dishearteningly. Gray shook his head with a smile before saying, "Look, I knew that if the cake shop wasn't open, or if they didn't have strawberry cheesecake, you would be grumpy for all our date so, I'm just going to give you this to make you happy," before lightly kissing her on the lips and reaching out to his pocket, only to show the flustered Titania a ring with a strawberry cheesecake on it. She gaped at it in awe, appreciating the beauty of the small object. Gray took Erza's left hand and placed it on her middle finger while whispering into her ear, "I won't put it on your fourth finger yet, just because I know you will kick me somewhere. But know that I will put a ring there one day.." Erza flushed red yet again before staring lovingly at her ring and pouncing on him, giving him a huge hug. After a few seconds, she realised what she was doing and pushed herself off him before turning the other way and facing away from him, saying, "Thanks... But you know that in the space of an hour you have broken all the dating boundaries, right?" she huffed, which just made Gray chuckle even more. He hugged her from behind and said, "True, but I had my fingers crossed as I signed it, so everything in that contact is nullified," before kissing her hair. Erza couldn't make a comeback to that, as her brain was all frazzled and her heart was beating too abnormally, so she just turned even more like the colour of her hair as she held his arms that were around her waist with her own.

Gray took hold of Erza's hand once again and dragged her along with him to the shooting range. As they picked up their guns and protective gear, Gray smiled smugly at her. He had been going to the shooting range since he was young so he could protect himself, and now he wanted to show her his skills. He felt like he was definitely above average. As he shot the countless targets, Erza could see that his skills were quite good as he either hit it on the mark or very close to it. He gave a little bow and Erza clapped, impressed. As she took her position, she smiled at Gray and said, "If you must know, I've practiced with several weapons for my training," before hitting every single mark perfectly. Gray just stared at her, completely shocked. She didn't even make one mistake! She was completely inhuman! When she eventually finished, she blew on the smoke coming out of the gun.

* * *

**Abandoned Flats 5 PM**

Natsu had finally reached his destination, and he could finally get his answers. As he walked up the stairs to the top floor, his heart thudded uncomfortably. He was finally meeting the man who was his father. When he finally reached the door, he knocked. He gulped twice loudly before the door opened, revealing no one. He walked further into the room, wondering how the door had opened, when he heard his name being called out,

"Natsu.." It was the voice of Igneel, his father. Natsu turned around to face him and suddenly, a flash of hot anger made him charge at Igneel. Igneel stealthily dodged it, and he punched Natsu in the stomach. Natsu recoiled before kicking Igneel in the shin, and Igneel cried out in pain before bashing Natsu's head on the wall hard, making him go unconscious. A few hours later, Natsu had woken up and he was sitting on a chair, facing the man who he had searched for most of his life.

"You know, I hated you. I hated you so much, and you probably didn't even know the reason why. I wanted kids with your mother, and I knew that she was too weak so I never bothered her... I didn't hate you because your birth made her weaker, that's probably the least likely reason!" he laughed dryly. Natsu inspected the man in front of him, hoping he would get some answers.  
"The reason why I fucking hate you so much is because she cheated on me right before we were about to get divorced with some random ex-lover, and she had you. You, the child of another man... I was always lucky in life, but in love I could never catch a break. When she had you, we were already divorced, but she told me to be your foster father, because she said that your real father could never take care of you. And clearly, he couldn't, since I dealt with you for years! And now, we are stuck in this position.. Well, now you know son.."

Natsu stared at the man whom he had thought was his father for his entire life, horrified. He couldn't believe it.. He had another father.. And his real father didn't even want him... Natsu could feel tears prickling, but he forced them to stay in, hoping not to be seen as weak.  
"S..S..So... Who is my real fa.. fa.. fa.. father..?" asked Natsu, his voice trembling. Igneel just shrugged before taking a swing at his beer. As he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, he said,

"Natsu, I see a lot of potential in you. You could be like me, someone who gets respected and hated by the law and the people- a vigilante. I could train you, and we could bring justice in this unforgiving town. After all, I've finally come to terms with you being my son, even though we aren't blood related. I want to get to know you, to stop hating you for being another man's son. So, what do you say?" Natsu let the first few tears drop, hoping that Igneel wouldn't see him as weak. He was so happy that his foster father could finally accept him for him, and even want to try and mend their relationship. Before he was about to nod his head, a loud "Crash!" flung the front door onto the opposite wall. The two men looked at the intruder standing at the doorway.

... It was Lisanna, but she looked different. As Natsu was about to hug his friend, he stopped, seeing the greedy hunger in her eyes. Her eyes looked like they were hungry..Blood thirsty.. This wasn't Lisanna..  
And it wasn't..  
It was Alva, and she had come to take Natsu away.

* * *

**Erza's Mansion 9 PM**

Erza was at home, composing the melodies for her new lyrics. She was already getting to work for her second album, and she couldn't be any happier. As she hummed out the tune that she was about to write on her composition paper, she heard a ringing noise coming from her phone. Knowing it was a call, she used her swivel chair to reach her phone, which was on her bed.

"Hello, who's speaking please?" she asked unsure.  
"Please, there is no need to speak so formally. Hi Erza!"  
"Hey Jellal, how are you?"  
"I'm good thank you Erza, I just wanted to say sorry for my father making us act as if we were in love. All he really wants is more controversy and gossip so that his company gets famous.."  
"It's fine Jellal, don't worry I'm perfe-"  
"No, it's not okay!" he cut her off, angry."Erza, I need to tell you something, but promise not to tell anyone.."  
Erza stayed silent for a few seconds before whispering quietly, "I promise." She heard Jellal sigh in relief before he spoke.  
"Erza.. Look, I have never gotten along with my father. He treated me and my mother, as well as my sister's mother like rubbish. We had to suffer under his dictatorship for years, my step mother and my sister more so than my mother and I. It was pure hell, and I vowed to make him lose what was most important. As you probably know, he values his company more than anything else in the world, so I'm going to burn it down to the ground. I will make sure that no one will ever say the words, Magnolia Star Agency, and I will make sure that you get another contract, just so long as you stick to my plan. I need to save my sister Ultear, before it's too late... Are you in?"

"Sure," Erza agreed seriously, but her head was spinning at one fact.  
"But.. who did you say your sister was?" _No...It can't be..__  
_"Ultear. Her name is Ultear Milkovich," he said, a smile in his voice. Erza dropped her phone, but Jellal had already said goodbye and hanged up. Erza sat on her chair, her head spinning with locked memories which she had no recollection of before...

_"Ultear, what is your surname anyway?" Erza asked, curiously.__  
_"_It's Ultear Milkovich, didn't I say so already?" Ultear asked as she threw stones at the river.__  
__"Really?... I don't remember you telling me.. Milkovich.."_

_..._

_"Ultear, what happened to you?!" Erza asked worriedly.__  
__"It's nothing, I fell off the stairs..."__  
__"No you didn't, how can you fall off the stairs when your arm is bruised with a hand print!?" Erza screamed.__  
__"It's fine! My dad is just a little strong, that's all! He has a really strong grip, so he tried to tell me something and he grabbed on too tightly! It's not his fault, it doesn't even hurt a bit!" she said while pointing at the injury. Erza glared at her before poking her in the arm, where the injury was, causing Ultear to hiss at her best friend. Erza gave her a knowing look, and Ultear just changed the conversation._

_.._

_"Ultear, who is your father?" Erza asked whilst having a feeling of déjà vu.__  
__"Erza, didn't you already ask this a week ago!?" Ultear asked, surprised.__  
__"Did I?" Erza said questioningly.__  
__"Yeah!" Ultear answered, worried for her friend. "Well, it's Haru. Haru Milkovich.."_

Erza's memories were all in tact now, back to the place that they were meant to be. Erza had known that her _sickness _had also developed the symptom of amnesia, but it had been a lot more frequent as a child. She had even forgotten her parents and her best friend's name! She had thought that the amnesia had finally gone away, but that wasn't the case. Instead, it had just made her forget a big chunk of her childhood, including facts about the people she knew. If she had known that Ultear was the daughter of her boss, she wouldn't have joined the agency... No wonder Ultear always looked like she was about to murder someone when she was with her..

Then, Erza started having a coughing fit, only stopping to gasp for breath before she resumed coughing. It continued on and on until she was sprawled on the floor, begging for it to stop. When it finally did, she closed her eyes and cautiously lifted her hand off her mouth, only to look at her hand to see.. Blood... She had coughed blood. She quickly wiped it away with some tissues before throwing the tissue paper in the bin, trying not to think of how frequently it was happening. As she reached for the house phone, she clicked on the voicemail button, just in case she had missed a call. After all, she had been busy everyday with the whole singer job.

"Beep! Hello sweetie, it's me your mum. Your dad is just negotiating with a doctor right now, so sorry if you hear him swear in another language.. Anyway, how are you? I just wanted to say that we miss you so much and we love you... We're sorry, we still haven't found anything.. We haven't found a cure yet for- Hey! Just leave the poor man alone, he clearly knows nothing about it!.. Sorry sweetie. We are trying our hardest, don't you worry about that! Bye my love, and stay happy. Don't worry, we'll be home soon. We are sure that we will find a cure, I can feel it in my gut.. Bye Erza, lots of kisses and tell me more about your boyfriend!-"  
"I DO NOT APPROVE!" screamed her father in the background.  
"Oh shut up! Anyway, see you soon sweetie, Bye!" And the line went dead.

Erza slowly walked up to her bed, but she couldn't keep consciousness as she collapsed on it.

**And done ;D My sister says her eye is twitchy, so I have to re-read it even though I have more homework than her -.- SMH! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter my adorable chibis and if you have summer vacation, lucky! D: Have fun ;) And if you don't, let's suffer these 6 more weeks (or however long you have left for summer) together ;D! HUGS! \\(*^-^*)/ xxxxx**

**~Roxanne**


	45. Femme Fatale

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Hey guys, did ya miss me ;p? Of course you did! :D (If you didn't, you're a meanie :'(... Joking, but still!) I've missed you and the story, so I'm finally writing after everything bad that could possibly happen to a person happened xD. Sorry if updates are going to be slow, but from now on, the chapters will be OVER 10K! It really depends on how much I have to write if it will be 10k or maybe even 20k O-O.. You never know ;) (But probably not 20k xD) Thank you again for reading my story and I hope you enjoy ;)!**

**Grayza forever: You know me, dark pasts are my forte ;p! And Gray's sly like that, but we love him for it ;) And I'm keeping mum about everything, but it will all be revealed soon enough :) And of course I will try to make everything I write as epic as possible :p! Ye have little faith ;p! Thank you very much and sorry for updating so late x3.. And I'm glad you understand it :D And no, Lisanna had her since the accident and Alva always stayed, and because she only recently woke up after all those years, she couldn't have taken any control over Alva :D. I hope that solves some mysteries and thank you again for being so nice with me :3**

**Grayza Fan: Thank you so much :D And yeah, I'm upset too that it will almost end, but not without an epic ending ;)! And I'm glad you're excited for them, I honestly can't wait to write them :D And I'm so sorry, I had this important exam and I wanted to study for that, and then because I've been fasting I didn't have the energy to write x3.. But don't worry, I'm going to try to upload this chapter as soon as possible :D**

**Sukaretto20: I'm updating now ;p! And when Erza was coughing blood, it wasn't a flashback :) Pretty much every chapter with italics is either thoughts or the past, except for Chapter 35 when it was Ul :)**

**Chapter XLV: Femme Fatale**

**Underworld- Unknown Location 12:22 (Refer to chapter 40)**

Aries packed her bags in a rush, hoping that taking only the essentials would help her in her plan to escape. She knew it was risky, and she would probably be killed if caught, but she knew that the risk was worth it. Even though she had felt truly at home with everyone who she had encountered in the Underworld, she knew that she didn't really belong there. What happened to the sweet, kind Aries she used to be? Now, she was just a man eater who didn't care about other people's lives if it meant that it was best for her cause, or just to please someone in the Underworld. This was not her. She was not like that, and she would not stay any longer and be corrupted further, because meeting Leo had truly changed everything. _Be ready for me.._

Aries took her luggage and she was surprised at how light it was. She knew she didn't have many material possessions, but it truly felt like she had nothing- no memories or pictures to remember her time there. She sighed, dejected. She slumped on her bed and faced the ceiling, contemplating whether to stay or go. She didn't really want to go, because she knew that she was needed there, and she actually had a purpose. There, no one could hurt her and she could be invincible but in the real world, she would be convicted and possibly given the life sentence. Maybe, they would even skip the trial and just shoot a gun to her head! She breathed in and out deeply to steady her breathing, hoping that her crippling thoughts could stop being so dejecting. They were the only thing holding her back (..well, there are also around 500 guards surrounding the parameters and police analysing their every move, but that's not too important). She gave herself a light slap on the face before getting up and getting dressed. She knew that it was going to be hard to escape, but she had to. This was her only chance before the police would come and do a stake out, making her lose nerve and forever be imprisoned in the Underworld.

She wore a black pencil skirt that went below her knees with a cotton shirt and white shoes to match it. Her hair was naturally curly, but she had straightened it always ever since she joined the Underworld to try to be more tough and look more severe. Now, she had no time to straighten her hair, so she kept it curly. She wore her white fedora with a black ribbon as well as her dark sunglasses, so others couldn't see her face. She wasn't exactly dressed to stay incognito, but there were at least two hundred cameras, so it was almost Mission Impossible. But Aries had lived in that house too long to not know every secret passage and how to escape the guards as well as the guard hounds unnoticed. She knew the bags would make her look very conspicuous, as she never carried anything. Thinking back over her plan, she knew that she either had to get rid of it or let someone send it to her after she had escaped. Both plans were stupid, as leaving the bags would mean that she would have nothing, and there would be no way she could escape. Same for the latter, as she knew that the person would be tracked. After all, they all had tracking devices embed inside their bodies as soon as they joined the organisation. The only way to get rid of it was to cut it open, but she had to find out where they had placed it in her. Every time someone got a tracking device implanted inside their body, it was always in a unique location from the rest of the members and they were all sedated during the process. Moreover, only the doctor could be there during the operation. That's why Aries always had to be careful where she went, because blowing her cover meant that she could be heftily punished.

Once again, she sighed and meticulously placing her luggage under her bed, a place where no one really looked. Everywhere else was always searched every week on a random day for inspection, to check if there were any traitors or if anyone wanted to escape, leading to a public execution. It was gruesome, but Aries had had to sit there in silence every single time and watch as a man got slaughtered for the silliest of reasons. So many times in fact, that she could look at someone get killed right in front of her and she would stay inscrutable, a poker-face gained from the amount of death she had witnessed in her short life. She knew she was wasting time just staying there, so she made her journey in the large house to the room where the doctor carried out his experiments. He was a sick, cruel man who tested on everything, from animals to humans. It might not seem that grave, considering that every other scientist did that, but he used them to make abnormalities in people. He would mix the genetics of an animal and a human to create a malformed being that was neither animal nor human.

As she stuck to the shadows, seeking comfort in the darkness while she heard several guards conversing, completely disregarding her, she felt an acute sense of relief. Only a few more minutes and she could finally reach her destination. But luck was not on Aries' side, and a guard noticed her almost hugging the wall, staying well away from other life forms.  
"Aries! Good afternoon Missy, how are you?" he asked. Aries glaciated, hyper-aware that he was acting really polite but knew something was wrong, as she usually walked with a stride of confidence.  
"I-I-I'm fine Georges don't worry!" she yelped, not sounding very convincing.  
"Missy, are you sure?!" he asked, an alarm ringing in his head. Aries knew she had to redeem the situation, so she knew the perfect excuse. She hated lying to someone she had known for a long time, someone who could even be considered her uncle and always called her by the nickname 'Missy', but she knew that she had to risk it to finally get out of the place.  
"Actually.. I've been feeling quite ill lately and I was just headed to the doctor. Would you mind helping me?" she whispered, her voice quivering.  
"Of course Missy, please wait here while I call as many free guards I can to escort you there!" he said, rushing to dial numbers on his telephone. Aries pounced on him and took his phone away, smiling at him sweetly before saying, "There is really no need for such a hassle Georges, I'll go by myself, don't worry. I'm not so sick that I need to be escorted like a princess!"  
"But you are still a little princess to me.." he whispered, not knowing that she had heard. His dejected smile soon formed a happy one, but Aries could still see the evident emotion in his eyes. She wanted to comfort him, to tell him that it would be alright, but she didn't have the courage to do so. Could she really betray her family?...

After Aries was escorted to the doctor's lab, she looked Georges in the eye, trying to convey in her eyes that she was pleading him to stop her, and one word from him would be the end of it all. But he said nothing, and she knew that he couldn't have possibly known, his confused expression confirming it. She lightly caressed his cheek before giving it a light peck, hoping that her blessing would protect him. A Zodiac's kiss was something that was not to be taken lightly, as their blessings, depending on where they kissed the person and who the person was, could bring great fortune. She hoped her kiss to him would be good enough protection, but she could never be too sure. He left her and as she waved him off, she heard a chilling voice that made her hand tremor slightly; no matter how hard she had tried to act calm and composed, she somehow always seemed to falter when he was in the vicinity. So she picked up her courage and forced herself to not feel afraid. But wanting to feel something and executing it can be two very difficult things to link, depending on the situation.

"Aries, I see, the little ram. What have you come here to do in the lion's den?" said the creepy voice of no other person than Doctor Reclestantine (or Dr. Reck, for short). Aries thought it was quite ironic how she was truly the ram and Leo was the lion, yet she had willingly gone into the lion's den, knowing the consequences.  
"Hello Dr. Reck!" she mimicked cheerfulness, hoping he would be fooled. But Doctor Reclestantine was not a man who liked to socialise, and he had an avid hatred for Aries. She had been warned to stay away from him several times, and she had listened, until now.  
"Please, don't mock me with the formalities. What the hell do you want, you measly human?!" he spat, actual spit dribbling from his mouth like venom. Aries unconsciously backed away from his presence, him being one of the only men she had ever been scared of. It wasn't like he was a guy with a six pack or threatening muscles, but his aura just emanated pure evil. She had always felt it, and it was even stronger now.  
"Nothing really, just wanted to check up on what you are doing. After all, today's the surprise inspection!" she squealed cheerfully once again, now sounding a bit more honest, but her throat closing up in consternation. She didn't know if her lie would pass off as the truth, but she hoped. As she was about to go out of the room, hoping that he would go outside of the room soon, she felt a heavy thud on her head. The next moment, she heard a savage voice from above saying, "I'm not stupid lady. I know when there are inspections, and you are certainly not part of them. Aries dear, would you like to join my experiments?.. Yes? Great! Excellent. Now, go to sleep, you won't be sleeping for long," before she heard a cackle and she blacked out.

She woke up, her head pounding and right above her, the grotesque face of the man she most hated.  
"Well, hello darling! Rest well, I hope? I'm sorry that you are currently a bit.. _tied up_! Hahhaha! Excuse my joke. But at least the chair is comfortable, like the one at the dentists. But, you know, I didn't know whether you would be complacent with it or you would scream like a mad old box of bats, so I just picked the safest option. Now, surgery will begin soon, so be prepared! I'll be back in a few minutes, just sit tight my dear," he said before walking out of the room. Aries knew that the ropes were too tight to break by sheer force, so she had to find a better way. Aries easily took off the gag. Next, the ropes. She could either call someone to help her or try to find a sharp object. The first option was probably the best, but the likelihood of anyone actually standing outside was zero to nil, so she knew that she had to find something. Anything.

She scanned the room and saw that on his desk was one of his tools of the trade, a wakizashi (small katana). She used the wheels and her detailed physics lessons to create enough kinetic energy by using her chemical energy to make the dental chair shuffle to the left. She knew she could hear footsteps coming closer, so she started moving the chair even faster, hoping that he wouldn't enter the room. When she finally reached the desk, she picked up the wakizashi and started cutting off the bonds, but he had finally entered the room, ready to make another grotesque mutation from Aries. She stopped herself from screaming and cut the rope in one big slash, holding the wakizashi in front of her to try and stop him from going any closer to her. She panted heavily from the effort, and he started tutting before an evil grin spread across his face. He lunged at her, hoping to cut a limb, but her reflexes were too good, dodging the slash easily enough. She knew it was her chance, so she ran as fast as she could out of the room, knowing that she only had a few minutes to carry out her plan before she would be killed or captured, as Reclestantine was very loyal to her father.

Aries rushed inside one of the guard's empty rooms and cut a little slit on her neck, having briefly seen her ex-ray while running away. At least it hadn't been a complete waste of a journey, and she knew that the device wasn't too deep. She used her fingers to take out the small tracking device, blood trickling on the floor and completely staining her hands, making her almost gag. She rushed to get the first aid bag and quickly disinfected the wound before bandaging it, hoping that she wouldn't lose too much blood. She entered the wardrobe and clicked the button which would place her inside the seat which would lead her anywhere into the house. After all, the house was too big and it was much more effective. She typed in her personal password and wrote the coordinates to her bedroom, knowing that there was nothing she could do other than run. She arrived there in less than five seconds and took her luggage before sitting on the chair again, hoping the security guards hadn't locked her access yet. Luckily, they hadn't, and she used the chair to go to the underground exit. There, no electronics worked because it was so deep underground, including any security cameras. The chair zoomed there and Aries walked quickly out of the tunnel. As she opened the door, a loud alarm sounded, alarming the security guards of an unauthorised exit from a personnel. Aries pelted away, holding in her tears while not looking back, hoping that one day they would find it in their hearts to forgive her.

They had been family, after all. Aries had left them a letter explaining the police stakeout and that they either had to make a quick escape or hide everything, but not fight them.

...

Leo (or Loke) had just finished Physical Education with his classmates, and the coach had wanted to talk to him concerning his attitude, because while he was great at the sport, he was always waving at the girls or talking to them, earning little to no points for his team. Meanwhile, Aries held her neck gently while sitting on the oak tree just outside the school gates, the cut still hurting, but at least the pain had finally gone away and she didn't have a pounding headache. She elegantly jumped off the tree and climbed the wall, knowing that they never placed cameras near the walls, only the gates. Fairy Tail, being the prestigious school it was had a terrible security system. She fell on a bush, cushioning her fall. All the students were about to change rooms, so she waited silently, hoping that it wouldn't take too long. After only a few seconds, Aries started walking, hoping to find the person she desperately needed to meet. The Zodiacs were blessed with many things, and one of those things was that they could feel the presence of another Zodiac. So when Leo had finally entered the changing room, and Aries was just outside in the gymnasium, she opened the door to find Leo only in his boxers.

Unlike a normal girl who would have probably screamed something like, "Kyaa! You pervert!" and turned around, their face completely red, Aries walked confidently in front of him. Leo was speechless, seeing the girl who had rejected him a few days ago in front of his eyes, looking tired yet beautiful. When she slowly stared at his six pack, Leo realised the situation and used his shirt to cover himself, shouting, "H-h-hey! You're a girl! You're not supposed to watch men change!"  
"It wasn't like I came here knowing you would be almost naked," she said calmly. Contrasting her tone, he shouted,  
"B-b-but still!" Before he could go on and embarrass himself even further, Aries kisses him lustfully on the lips, taking him by surprise. Stunned, his lips took a while to get into the flow of kissing the girl he loved. She held onto his neck while he held on to her face, their lips intertwined and emotions soaring.

When the kiss finally broke off, even though it only lasted a couple of seconds, Aries crashed on the floor, making Leo go down with her and look at her worriedly. He didn't notice the wound on her neck. Aries then started to cry, begging for forgiveness for all the pain and hurt she had caused him,  
"I'm so sorry Leo. I'm sorry for abandoning you.. I'm sorry for not being there for you.. Thank you for always protecting me, even though I don't deserve it.. Thank you for being the best thing that's happened in my life, even if it took me a while to figure it out.. I hope one day you can forgive me for not saving myself for you, and I'm sorry that I didn't even try.." She moaned on and on, hoping that he would listen to every word she said, as she felt remorseful. He held her close to his body, forgiving her instantly and hoping to comfort her. When she seemed to calm down a bit, she pulled herself gently away from him, hoping to stare into his eyes one more time. She chuckled, saying, "I can't believe how much your eyes have dilated by just looking at me..."  
"Hey! Look at your own eyes, they are probably even more dilated than mine.." he said in mock anger. **(BTW: When people's eyes dilate [pupils get bigger] it is usually for a person that they really care for/love. Science lessons with Roxanne ;) )**

Aries surprisingly kissed him again, but that wasn't the only shock he was getting. After the short, sweet kiss, she punched him in the face, knocking him out cold. Aries kissed him once more, but this time on the forehead before saying, "Goodbye... See you never Leo.."

When Leo woke up, he felt like his head was about to split. Luckily for him, Aries hadn't hit him too hard, so he had woken up less than five minutes after the punch. To his disappointment, she was gone. He checked his surroundings and he felt a shirt on his shoulders, chest and stomach, making him smile how much she still cared for him, even though she would always deny it. He got up and saw that there was a letter right where his other articles of clothing were. Curiously, he took it, seeing that it was addressed to him by Aries. He ripped it open excitedly, waiting for some good news like a love confession or something similar, but it was nothing like that...

_Dear Leo,_

_I know that it's cruel for me to do this to you after we have been reunited, but I must do this. I need to go.. I need to leave and never come back, for my sake. I know, selfish, but I haven't gotten to be selfish in a long while. I'm leaving Magnolia as it isn't my home any more.. It never truly was.. I have left the Underworld, and now they must kill me. The real world also sees me as a wanted criminal for escaping years ago, and they would probably give me the death sentence. Staying here would only cause trouble for all the people I hold dear, and I wouldn't be able to live my life, so I have to go. I wish I could be the silly, sarcastic me that flirts with guys to get what she wants (but in a cute and classy way, of course), but I can only leave you on sad terms. You know my feelings for you and I won't write them in a letter, or ever. We should both just forget each other, as trying to stay with me will only bring you sadness, as I'm not coming back, no matter how much you want me to. I'm leaving, and I've probably already left Magnolia by the time you read this letter. You probably already know that you aren't supposed to follow me, but just in case, I'll warn you- Don't follow me. I can't bear to see you sad, so that's why I left. If I stayed, I would have to see you with other people while I would be alone, no friends, no home. I would never want to condemn you to a life of running away with me, you have already ran too long. You deserve a lifetime of happiness and I hope you find a better woman than me and your children can be less perverted than you, but who are we kidding - probably not going to happen.. Please forgive me (yet again) and I'm sorry I don't have more to say._

_Fellow Zodiac and the ram to your lion,_

_Aries_

Leo punched the locker, leaving a large indentation on it. "Dammit... After we had finally met again.." he muttered silently.

* * *

**Old Hotel 16:20**

Lucy breathed in and out, preparing herself for what she was about to go through. She was exactly in the same situation as Nastu, finally meeting her father after all those weeks, months, years of neglect on their broken relationship. Lucy walked up to the receptionist of the tiny hotel that smelled like rotten cheese, who was an old woman who kept on filing her nails, even though they seemed perfectly even. Not wanting to seem rude, Lucy said, "E-e-excuse me?" several times, but the old lady didn't hear. Finally, Lucy gave up and just rang the loud bell on the reception desk, making the old lady look up at her. She gulped before saying, "Could you please tell me which room Jude Heartfilia is in?"  
"Jude?" she crowed, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "And who might you be?"  
With a little pause, she said, "I'm his daughter.."

The old woman's eye lit up straight away at the word 'daughter' and she giddily escorted her to her father's room, room 7. Lucy thanked the receptionist and waved her goodbye, glad that she had seen the resemblance between her and her father. Lucy knocked politely, her etiquette lessons coming into some use. A hushed voice commanded, "Come in." But the voice did not belong to a strong, powerful man like her father, but a weak, defeated man. A man Lucy didn't know. She was scared to enter, but she pulled herself together by breathing in once more and opening the door to see a pale man looking outside a window. His hair had white strands from all the stress he had been put through and he seemed haggard, the messiest she had ever seen him. Businessman Jude always wore crisp white shirts with flashy suits and ironed trousers, but this Jude wore his pyjamas, which seemed ridiculous to her.

Lucy sat down on the chair next to him and held his hand, even though she didn't know whether she had forgiven him yet. His husky voice was low, yet it resounded and filled the whole room. "Daughter, thank you for coming... I am sorry to call you at such a time when you see me so weak in front of you, when you usually see me as a strong, imposing man.. Am I right?" Lucy nodded slowly, not knowing who this stranger that was actually having a conversation with her was. He seemed so normal...

"Before I ask for your forgiveness for being a terrible father, I need to tell you why I've been such a terrible father..."

_When I was young, I wasn't rich, but I wasn't poor either. But our family was large, and seeing my parents always starving themselves broke my heart. That's why I swore to myself I would be rich and spend all that money on my family. That was the plan, but I didn't know how to make any money. The only thing I could do was that I had to work my way up, so at a young age I took up a part time job and earned more and more money by finding opportunities. It was hard, but I managed. My parents could start eating their portions and I didn't have to watch them die in front of me. Our dad wanted to work more hours, so he hired a babysitter for us . When no one was home, I entered, thinking that I could take something for my part time job when I saw the babysitter kissing my dad, and he wasn't pulling away. My perfect image of a family was shattered, along with any desire to help cheats like him. My mother was beautiful, yet he dared cheat on her! It made me so angry that I kept it a secret, so that I could use it against him. One day, when it was just me and him in the house, I told him that he should get a divorce or I would tell mum, who was so sweet and hardworking, that he was cheating. He laughed in my face and told me that she was doing the exact same thing as him, as their marriage had plummeted after having me, their first child. It all became crystal clear, and I knew that there was no way I could fix it. In anger, I tried to strangle him, and I was locked in a room for several days, left there to starve. I would have probably died if it hadn't been for my younger sister, who always made sure to feed me her leftovers, even though she was the skinniest one out of them all.. She looked a bit like you Lucy...Anyway, our family had to go on a trip so that they could break the news to my siblings. They didn't allow me to go, as I already knew about their situation and he saw me as a 'waste of money'. I hugged all my brothers and sisters tightly, not knowing that I should have never let them go. The cruise was stopped abruptly when a vicious storm killed everyone on that cruise, including my family. That's when I knew that the world was sick and cruel, so I had to be sick and cruel back to not get swallowed by the despair. I studied and became valedictorian, my brain hurting from the amount of revision I did per day, from morning until late in the night. I didn't need girlfriends and I didn't focus on popularity, knowing that I could easily make enough money that would be ten times the amount those people in my class could ever make. I thrived and even used drugs to help me stay awake, the end goal being financial independence and so much more. I wanted that ideal lifestyle that everyone would be jealous of..__  
__And then I met your mother.. Sweet, kind, compassionate. She was perfect, a bit like my mother. I don't know how, but I fell head over heels for her, courting her and trying to make her like me. She laughed at my awful jokes and went along with my crazy ideas, helping me be more stable when I had a breakdown because my business wasn't going so well. She was my guardian angel and she made my sour heart just a bit warmer. But I wasn't the only one who wanted your mother's hand in marriage.. There was a guy who looked exactly like my father and had his exact same attitude- his secret son before he had died, only three months younger than me. I knew right away that that bastard cheated on my mother first, right at the start of their marriage, and that she had known he wasn't the right man for her, and she had moved on, knowing that she was in her right.. Anyway, I didn't want the spawn of the devil to steal my Layla. So I kissed her, and she made her decision. I knew that she would stay faithful to me and not cheat on me. While she was pregnant, she was very weak, and I wanted to provide for her as much as I could while she was bed-ridden. So I made millions and got even more greedy and wanted even more money until it became an addiction.. You know how it went from there..__  
__I became the worst parent for a child and only wanted my money to be mine, hoping not to make any sentimental attachments.. I became even worse than the man who I had hated all my life._

Lucy had started crying, the story too sad for her ears. She had known that her father had gone through a lot, but not that much. Compared to him, she was nothing. She felt his hand hold hers and she held it weakly, light-headed from his life story. He squeezed her hand in reassurance, and she held on to it a bit more firmly. She finally knew why her father had always treated her like this, and she could feel her mother looking down on her and telling her that it was the right thing to do to forgive him. She placed her hand on top of her father's and said, "I forgive you Dad." And for the first time in a long while, she saw her father smile brightly, almost like a little child. He looked so much younger, his wrinkles almost disappearing and the relief on his face evident. Now Lucy had one more thing to write in her diary..

Just as she was about to continue a conversation with her father, he interrupted her by saying," Daughter dearest, I have to tell you something. Don't feel obliged to say anything, but I have to come clean.. I made a deal with this very powerful man, and my whole company went bankrupt.. I'm broke and poor, and I sold everything to pay back the debt, so I'm sorry for losing all the money on something so stupid! I shouldn't have listened to that Haru M-"  
_"Wait,_ you mean Haru Milkovich?!" Lucy muttered with vehemence. Jude raised his eyebrows before nodding solemnly. In that moment, Lucy swore revenge on the man who had ruined her father and all his hard work - everything had been sacrificed because of that evil man. Somehow, that famous name kept on popping up quite a lot..

After talking a bit more with her father, Lucy hugged him goodbye for the first time in her life and walked with purpose to Haru's office at the Agency, where he would most likely be. She walked there, as a taxi would be too expensive for Lucy because Natsu's income had helped with the transportation.. _Natsu.__  
_Just the mere mention of the name made her so fragile that she broke down. Her friends had been very careful with trying not to mention his name, as he had not been back home for over five days. But the police would only worry until it was a week later, so Lucy had to wait even longer. She didn't know if she had it in her to wait, as he would always call or make sure that she didn't worry, as he knew that she could be extremely preoccupied about the smallest of things. As she was ten minutes away from the Agency, she got a call from Lisanna.  
"Hiya Lisa, what's wrong?" Lucy asked, before hearing a torrent of sobs, cries and hiccups. "Lisanna?! Talk to me, what's wrong?!" she kept on repeating, but to no avail. When she grew a bit calmer, she quietly whispered,  
_"I killed Natsu.."_

_Alva dragged Natsu away, preparing herself for what she was about to do. She knew that she should have done it a long time ago, but now it actually felt right to do it. Igneel had looked at her strangely, but that was fine. After all, she was about to be his daughter in law soon enough. She stood on the empty space, facing Nastu. Her heartbeat quickened, and she felt her face going red. She told herself to breathe, because it was all going to be alright. In the blur of the moment, she pointed at the sky and said, "Look there!" Natsu looked up and saw a shooting star coincidentally passing by, which made him gain a mega-watt smile. His childish happiness made Alva gain more confidence in herself, and she braced herself for what she was about to do, making a wish to the shooting star she had seen a moment ago. "Isn't it beautiful?" she asked.__  
__"Yep! It was really pretty.." he whispered while thinking, 'like Lucy's eyes'.__  
__"Natsu!" she shouted, hoping to get his attention after seeing the glazed, starry eyed look he carried.__  
__"Uh hu?"__  
__"Natsu, I love you! I've always loved you, and I know that you and Lucy are now separated, so what do you say? I know you've always liked me too.." she said, breathless. Natsu stood there, gobsmacked. Alva stayed positive, hoping that she could help Lisanna by saying the words that she would say. She felt like it was absolutely certain that he would go with her. Natsu breathed in before saying,__  
__"Sorry Lisanna, but I love Lucy... Even though she's hurt me, I know there is a reason why she did it, and in my heart I know that it isn't her fault. I liked you when we were younger, but that was puppy love, and I was infatuated with you because you were the most beautiful girl to me. You are still beautiful, but Luce is the one who makes me the happiest, even if you had been here with me all along. I know we belong together, and we would have eventually met. I'm sorry.."__  
__Alva then started trembling violently and reached for her purse, which resided a deadly weapon. Just as she was about to pick it up, Lisanna took back control and shouted, "RUN AWAY FROM ME, NATSU. NOW!" But she didn't have the strength to fight back Alva, and because Natsu was so confused, he stood still, trying to comprehend the situation. Alva regained back ultimate control and shot him in the chest. A pool of blood, like a red rose, formed around Natsu's chest before he dropped stone cold on the floor. The blood flowed out of his body and on the cement, making Alva scream, realising what she did. Alva also dropped the gun, screaming repeatedly.._

Lucy rushes to the crime scene, her heart heavy as she rushed to find Natsu in the abandoned block of flats. Even though she wanted to condemn Lisanna, she knew that it wasn't her fault, having no control of the situation. She could only be angry at herself for not going with her, maybe even being able to block Alva from letting the bullet go anywhere near Natsu. As she scanned her surrounding at the exact location Lisanna had described, it was deserted. There was nothing there to insinuate that a murder had occurred, not even one drop of blood to be seen anywhere. As Lucy was about to walk away dejectedly, she was hit on the head. Hard.

She fell to the ground, unconscious.

* * *

**Erza's Mansion 17:03**

Erza had been trying to do her homework as it was one of the only days that Gray was busy, so he wouldn't interrupt her. Even as she thought this, she missed his presence and could barely concentrate on her homework. Unlike her usual routine, Erza decided to do her homework in the lounge as a change of scenery from her bedroom. It was nice to have the sun streaming from the large triple glazed windows while wearing her headphones to play her favourite tunes to help her concentrate even more. It may have worked previous times, but the several algebraic equations were getting extremely tedious and were not challenging her intellectually. She sighed before trying to get back to work, but nothing was working. She knew that she had to be better prepared and should never have let her career get in the way, but life seemed so much more exciting performing and having fun with other artists like her who valued their work. Handing homework in at least a week early was not her priority anymore, as she handed them on the actual day they were due. The teachers had been shocked, but they had had to get accustomed to it pretty quickly as her career only ever kept on blooming, showing no signs of slowing down.

As she was about to close her eyes because the mathematics homework was making her sleepy, a loud ringing noise woke her up from her stupor... It was her phone. Could she never have a break? Erza walked slowly to the couch before answering the phone, not surprised that it was Sting. He had been calling her a lot recently, and Gray had told her to stay away from him, but it was very hard to try and avoid her manager, who had her schedule and told her what time she should sleep and wake up for the maximum work ethic to not get bags under her eyes. He was a great manager, but he was always a bit flirty. As said before, Erza was definitely not dumb, and she knew when people liked her, but she chose to make it seem as if she was ignorant to not over-complicate matters.

"Hey Erza. Babe, how are you?" he asked in a cheerful voice, but it felt a bit too strained.  
"Sting, we've known each other long enough to know that you want me to do something. Spit it out, what is it?" she said in that intimidating tone of voice that she would never lose.  
"Well.. I know you said you wanted to focus on your studies, but we need you to go to this premiere that has all the A-listers with your 'boyfriend' Jellal," and he said the word 'boyfriend' with unmasked venom, even though he was one of the few people who knew that they weren't really going out. A small smile spread on Erza's lips before recollecting herself and saying,  
"So, you want me to go?" she heard him squeak a little at the potency of her voice.  
"Yes Erza.. I'm so sorry I wanted to tell them that you were busy and that you are literally the perfect student but they never listen to m-"  
"Sting, please shut up."  
"Okay.."  
"And Sting?" she whispered.  
"Yes Erza?"  
"Thank you..for telling me... And sorry." She hung up before saying anything else, knowing that she would probably meet him in less than twenty minutes and not wanting to have an awkward atmosphere by specifying what she meant by "sorry".

Erza rushed upstairs, secretly giddy about the whole affair. She finally had something interesting she could do, and she could even hang out with her new friend Jellal. Over the few days they had known each other, they had gotten really close. Even with his plan to overthrow his father, he was still one of the nicest people she knew, and he was definitely a better gentleman than Gray could probably ever be. She went to her mother's closet once more to check for any formal wear dresses and luckily she found them right away before having to question what her parents exactly did in their spare time. It was a beautiful turquoise strapless dress that went just above her knees, and it draped like a curtain, making it look even more divine. Erza wore sapphire earrings to go with the dress and blue heels, and well as her mother's moonstone ring, which went beautifully with all the colours. Erza twirled in front of the mirror, hating that she felt like she was being shallow but at the same time feeling confident and brilliant inside. The doorbell rang, and she knew that she had to hurry up to the car.

After a fan had nearly been hit by her limousine because it was so large, Erza had requested that they use only cars to transport her for the safety of her fans. The space was a lot more cramped, especially with the make-up crew and the hair stylists as well as the people who made sure that she felt relaxed as possible and many others. Sometimes, it felt claustrophobic, but she was happy that she had her own entourage which would always stick by her, through the good and the bad. She had also become really close with them, even though she had had to reprimand them on several occasions for doing things which she deemed unreasonable- like putting too much make up on her, adding random objects in her hair, giving people a tissue she had sneezed on, that sort of thing.

She greeted them all and they regarded her with smiles, congratulating her stunning appearance and amazing taste. She basked in the compliments humbly, saying that her mother had always been a great fashion icon. Then, the head hair stylist tutted when he looked at her hair, as she hadn't even bothered to do it. But Erza had purposely chosen not to, as she knew that he would say what she did was rubbish and re-do it all over again with his fancy products and expertise. Cancer had a funny way of cutting hair, as he always said "-ebi" at the end of his sentences (shrimp) even though his whole look seemed more styled to resemble a crab. She also had a vocal coach names Lyra who dressed as if she came from the country side or the mountains with a bright blue dress and a bonnet, as well as a harp she always carried around with her. What was even more peculiar about her is that she always sang, whether to reflect someone's emotions or try to cheer people up, but at least she did take requests, and her voice was truly beautiful. She had sang for several years, so she had mastered her craft completely, but she said she saw great potential in Erza that could definitely beat her one day. Erza didn't really believe that, but she felt flattered whenever Lyra complimented her because she was such an amazing songstress.

Sting briefed her on the movie and what it was about, and how it's a revolutionary romance story. Erza was intrigued by the story plot, because it wasn't the common/cliché romance that seemed to be circulating a bit too much. Erza took note of the actors in the play, just in case she met them and had to greet them, as well as compliment them for their work. For her, memorising their names was easy. The hard thing was to put a name to the face, as the actors all looked like the typical Magnolia **(think of Magnolia as the equivalent of Hollywood)** actors. She wished there would be more diversity in the acting world, but she could only hope that until then, Magnolia would try to do different things with the story lines. Sting had not tried putting the moves on her, and she knew that he had finally given up, and that he was coming to terms with it. They looked at each other knowingly before he said he had another business meeting, so they dropped him off and went on their way.

As they were driving, the make-up crew started applying make-up on her with careful precision, making sure not to apply too much while avoiding smudging it and not letting speed bumps and dents in the road affect them. They could spend at least five hours doing a simple, elegant piece because they were so driven and hard working, which were definitely qualities that Erza admired in others. The car came to a halt, and Erza's make-up had been completed. Next was her hair, which was in floppy bun (tied her hair twice lazily) and she had to wear her contact lenses. Just after she had finished doing that while turning around for Cancer to do her hair, Jellal opened the car door and she greeted him on with a warm smile. He hugged her and she hugged him back, glad she could talk with him again.

"So, what's been happening?" Jellal asked, curious. Erza winced as Cancer pulled at her hair, tutting that she hadn't been maintaining it very well. He asked her all sorts of questions like how often she shampooed it and moisturised it, but she chose to ignore him and answer Jellal's question.  
"Well, Haru doesn't seem to suspect a thing. He hasn't tried to harm my parents either, and I'm sure he hasn't taken anything of value from you, so we are currently in a predicament... If we cannot prove what you say, no one will believe us. After all, in the hierarchy he is at the top, and we are just his little insignificant chess pieces that he can use as he pleases.."  
"Well, not really Erza. I've found a lead, and I think this one may actually be conclusive. Just bear with me it will take a bit more ti-"

"We're here!" sang Lyra excitedly. Erza gave her a rueful smile before looking at the mirror Cancer had handed to her, approving her wavy hair swept all on one shoulder. She gave him the thumbs up before taking a hold of Jellal's hand, knowing full well that they still needed to act like they were a couple. The car doors opened, and lights flashed in her face and the crowd went wild seeing the hottest couple in Magnolia at the moment. Paparazzi swarmed them, asking them several personal questions that they didn't actually have the answers to because they weren't dating. Then, before Jellal made up some random lie that was false, an unpleasant sound emanated from a distance away. It was Haru's laughter as he was getting out of his expensive limousine, and the paparazzi thought it was best to swarm him. But unlike Jellal and Erza, he loved all the attention. The movie they were supposed to watch, 'Destiny's Calling' wasn't even important anymore, but how they could win the almost unbeatable chess game. They knew they had to get checkmate, but they just didn't know how... Yet.

"Son, Erza, come here for a moment!" Haru beckoned them over. Erza and Jellal plastered smiles on their faces, both being natural actors (Erza had gone through a long training course in the past, because her acting had been truly atrocious previously), hoping that he wouldn't try another stunt which they weren't prepared for. They walked toward him holding hands, and they could see on his porcine face that it pleased him a lot. Erza had wanted to smack that smug smile on his face right off, but he was her boss, and he would make sure that she would never be employed again in any business. The even scarier thing was that they didn't know just how dangerous Haru Milkovich could really be. They reached him, the paparazzi moving away to give them space to stand next to the man who was their common enemy. He placed his hand on Jellal's shoulder, making him shudder, Erza feeling the tremor. They exchanged glances for a fraction of a second, scared of what he may announce next.

"Hasn't my son been a star? And even more so, dating the best talent in our agency. He's really struck gold! And when I eventually die, I want all of my company to be his." Jellal snapped his head to look above him at the man he had never seen once as a father. He knew for a fact that he wasn't included in his will, and spies had checked on him and every other person who may have been involved with him, and there had currently been no recent activity. He didn't know what Haru was plotting, but it clearly wasn't very good. A nudge from Erza brought him back to his senses, and he gave his fake brightest smile to the cameras and then his father, bowing to show respect to say "Thank you," when all he really wanted to do was scream at him that he was insane. Yes, the whole point of his plan was to take over the company and destroy it, but for Haru to give it up so easily, he was definitely hiding something.

Finally, they walked inside the cinema, doing anything but enjoying the movie. Haru kept on making several business calls and eventually excused himself from the film, while Erza and Jellal had private seats and had talked and plotted about what to do with Haru and how to deal with his cunning. They didn't know what his plan was, but tried figuring it out, confused why he was acting so fast now, when there seemed to be no threats. Just as they were about to go on another elongated discussion about Haru, they heard Erza's song play in the movie. Erza raised her head while her mouth was wide open, disbelieving what she was seeing. They had actually used her song on a famous film that they knew was going to break many hearts and make people cry, making it a hit movie! It was also already nominated for an Oscar and a best picture, as well as best actor and best actress and so many more promising titles, and it felt truly amazing to be part of it. Jellal's phone pinged and he checked the email he had received, only to smile brightly for the first time that entire time they had been at the premiere.

"What is it? What is it?!" she asked excitedly, readily awaiting his news.  
"Guess what?" he whispered, clearly wanting her to hurry up with her response so he could tell her the brilliant news.  
"What is i-?"  
"You've been nominated for the best soundtrack in a hit movie!" Jellal beamed. Erza covered her mouth, not believing what she was hearing. Just when her day couldn't get even better, Gray called her. She excused herself from Jellal's presence and walked into a quiet area of the cinema, away from all those A-listers.

"Congrats Scarlet," he said, a hint of pride his sluggish voice.  
"Thank you very much," she whispered giddily.  
"I guess we should celebrate over some champagne?" Gray asked.  
"Gray, we aren't even close to the legal age limit!"  
"So? Practically everyone we know has gotten drunk at least once! And this is a celebration babe, so let's do this just once, and you can reprimand me every day after if you want! Who knows, maybe more will happen once you lose yourself.."  
"I've told you before, don't call me that! And I don't like not being in control of my mind.."  
"Don't worry, I wouldn't try to do anything, even though once you nearly pounced on me. What would have happened if I hadn't been the guy who had kept it in his pants and waited for you like the loving boyfriend I am?" Gray said sarcastically. Erza stayed silent for a few seconds, comprehending what she had just been told. Before he had the change to apologise, she said,  
"I love you too.."

They both smiled at the other end of the line, their hearts beating at an abnormal rate while Erza's stomach made several somersaults.

* * *

**Modern Hotel 20:09**

Ultear knew she had to hurry for her plan to take effect. She knew that her father was going to act soon, and it was up to her to stop it. Even if she now realised that Erza wasn't at fault, she knew a deep, dark secret that she swore a long time ago she would take to her grave. And Erza was in the way of accomplishing that dream, her presence being the only thing that could tarnish years of hard work. Lives had been lost, people had been sacrificed so that she could make her wish come true, but Erza had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and had caused all the bad things to happen to Ultear. There would have been no way of turning back, but now that she was there, she was going to ruin everything! She had to re-write history to make it right again by doing what she should have done ages ago.

Ultear took one more swing of red wine and put on rouge lipstick and tied her hair in a traditional bun, choosing to wear a long black dress with a slit to show her legs. When she felt ready, she wore her black heels and took her purse, hoping that she wouldn't be too late. After all, the movie was supposed to be three to four hours, so it couldn't possibly have finished yet. But it was a long journey there, and Ultear had to make sure she was prepared for what she was about to do next. She just hoped that no one would get hurt, especially herself...

She got in her vintage car and drove at max speed, not even trying to look at the speed limit, which she was over by at least 30mph. But this involved her future, and she wasn't about to sacrifice it, no matter how selfish she seemed to others. She knew she was selfish, _so what? _She would rather be selfish and get everything she wanted than be selfless and sacrifice everything dear she held for the sake of feeling like a better person. Wasn't helping someone a selfish desire anyway, wanting to please others to get self gratification? Ultear didn't need or want that gratification for helping others, but for helping herself.

She breathed in and took her cell phone out of her purse and dialled a number. The phone rang, but no one picked up. _Bastard, pick up before I do something you will regret! _Ultear thought, knowing that she meant it completely. The phone rang a few more times before the recipient picked up.  
"What do you want now Ultear? To scream at my face what a useless jerk I am and how I deserve to die? Go ahead.." said an exasperated Gray. Ultear gulped, feeling guilty for snapping at him before, but she knew that she had had to do it to make him know he was doing a terrible mistake. Instead of apologising, she said, "I'm going to the premiere."  
"What.. Are you crazy?! Don't go, or I swear I will -"  
"Swear you'll do what exactly, Gray? You think I'll listen to your pitiful threats?" Ultear laughed dryly, sick and tired of having to deal with this kind of thing Every. Single. Day. "Don't worry, lover boy, I won't touch your dearest little darling. I've got more important matters to deal with, so don't bother me about that..."  
"Then why exactly did you call?" he said in a frigid voice which made even Ultear shiver slightly.

"To tell you to remember your promise, sw-"  
"Don't even dare finish off that sentence Ultear.."  
"So now you fucking say my name, after ignoring me for so long!"  
"What do you think I was doing?! Do you think I WANT IT TO HAPPEN?!" Gray shouted at the top of his voice.  
"OF COURSE YOU WANT IT TO HAPPEN! AND EVEN IF YOU DON'T, YOU CANNOT CHANGE IT!" And the line went dead. Gray had most likely smashed his phone on the ground in anger. Ultear gripped the steering wheel tightly, her eyes flaring with rage. She knew a time when he hadn't been so reluctant about the idea, and he had even liked the idea. Ultear stomped on the brake in the middle of the road, placing her head on the steering wheel, her hands still gripping it tightly, breathing in and out. Her breathing was ragged and uneven, and she knew she would have _another _panic attack if she didn't calm down.

_It's okay..Calm down..Just breathe.. You are doing fine.. Don't worry Ultear.., _her chant to help her through them.

The world came back into focus, and people were beeping their horns and screaming for her to move. She zoomed past them all, allowing the evening wind to blow in her face. She knew that the movie wouldn't finish for at least another half an hour, so she made a few special phone calls to some important people, hoping they would arrive on time. Ultear knew she now had the power, and the ball was in her court. It was up to her to hit it hard and make sure to deliver.

As she saw people starting to exit the premiere to take even more photos (before they went to the after party), Ultear spotted Jellal and Erza holding hands, which made her narrow her eyes, but she knew that there was no time to think about the time she had scolded him for accepting to go on with the plan. She got out of the car and walked up to them, seeing her father a few metres behind her. She stood in front of them and raised her arms to her hips while facing the cameras, as well as the journalists and even more paparazzi that she had requested them to come there and said in a loud voice,

"I, Ultear Milkovich, the daughter of Haru Milkovich, am the rightful owner of this company!"

The whole media went crazy while Erza looked at Ultear in awe, the two finally looking at each other eye to eye. Jellal's eyes widened like saucers and Haru immediately stopped his important business call.

The girls were really Femme Fatales.

**Finally finished x3 Again, I'm truly sorry for the wait and I hope you liked it. Stay forgiving my adorable chibis because everyone deserves a second chance, even if you may curse them for what they did to you \\(*^-^*)/ xxxxx**

**~Roxanne**


	46. Sacrifice

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Helloooo! :D Sorry again x3.. But I'm going to Italy tomorrow for 9 days, so please forgive me for that amount of time x3.. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you for all the kindness you have shown an amateur writer like me :) And I always forget to say this, but when I have to write lyrics to songs, I hate the text not being the same as the one on FF, so I always have to write it xD... And I'm rubbish at remembering song lyrics O-O.. Just a random thing to say ;p..**

**Sukaretto20: I'm sorry that it was so long, but I did warn ya ;p! And thank you so much :) I'm updating now ;)!**

**Chapter XLVI: Sacrifice**

**Haru's Office - 12:04 AM**

After Ultear's announcement, the media went ballistic and it was all they could talk about. Ultear had been so well hidden from the media that no one had known that she had been Haru's daughter; only those who she had told knew. Ultear didn't feel embarrassed at all, even if her father couldn't acknowledge her existence. Well, she was here now and the only thing on people's lips and conversations. The headlines followed the same trend, saying ridiculous things like 'Family Rivalry' and 'The Battle for an Empire' and similar things. Haru heard all these things and he knew he had to do something about it. He paced his deluxe office slowly, with purpose, constructing the plan that could make or break him. A ringing noise momentarily halted his pacing, making him turn to check who the caller was. His eyes dilated and his pulse quickened in fear, the realisation of who was calling making him pounce for the phone, knowing that he was in serious trouble.

"Hello?" said Haru, his voice slightly quivering, which wasn't that surprising considering who he was talking to.  
"What the hell have you done!" said the several human voices at once. The person behind the phone was someone even more powerful than Haru, and he or she didn't like people knowing their true identity, so they used a special microphone to mask their voice. No one, not even Haru, knew their real identity. It could have been a five year old genius for all anybody cared, but they would probably never know as their identity was extremely well hidden.  
"What do you mean E-E-Esca?" was the code name that Haru had been given to use for the person on the other end of the line. Haru knew exactly what 'Esca' was talking about, but he knew that playing dumb would be better for his cause. He could hear Esca holding back an order to get rid of him and kill him, but he had confidence in his decision.  
"What I 'mean' stupid, stupid Haru, is that your stupid daughter has said that she is the rightful heir to your company, when you and I know that she was supposed to keep it a secret. Yet, the little princess couldn't keep her little mouth shut. So what can we do, you may ask? Either you think of a suitable plan to stop her madness or I will be forced to get rid of her myself. You understand?" And the line went dead.

He held the phone away from his hand, knowing that it was shaking like a leaf during an autumn wind. He used his other hand to try and stop it, but there was nothing he could do. The tremor wouldn't stop, and he knew who was the cause of it. Not just the cold, callous voice from the person named Esca, but he knew he was growing weak. Day by day he was losing strength fast and if he didn't get medication, he knew that his lifespan would be cut short. He laughed when he thought about his lifespan shortening thinking, _as if I don't deserve it... _chuckling bitterly to himself. He knew that he completely deserved it, for all the pain he had given all those he had come into contact with, but he was truly only responsible for two lives, the rest at the hands of another. He breathed in and exhaled before having an idea on how to sate the media from going any more crazy over the small matter.

Haru scheduled the interview to be done in twenty minutes at the closest conference room and that whichever members of the media which could attend it should go there immediately. Haru didn't want anything big, because it was going to be him talking for less than five minutes. But he knew that whatever he would say in that room would be monumental and spread like wildfire, more people loathing him even more than they could have possibly hated him. Haru used the stairs, knowing that contract killers could be lurking in that reclusive place called the elevator. At least if he used the stairs, it was in a public place and it was also connected to all other floors, making it an open area and a really stupid place to kill him. He looked at his expensive watch and saw that there were only ten minutes until the interview, so he told his driver to hurry up. They reached their destination fashionably late by almost thirty minutes, the press restless and hungry to know Haru's views on the whole matter.

Haru sat in the chair, isolated from everyone else while the press were below him, separated only by a table, begging to be heard by him. Haru silenced them all with a wave of his hand, showing he had absolute power. He stood up and the press stopped taking photos of him, knowing that that would only anger him even further. And they were very right to be cautious, as Haru Milkovich was certainly not in a good mood. His usually composed features were red and his eyes seemed aflame, as if Hephaestus was living inside him (god of fire), along with Ares, the war god. Haru stood tall and imposing, his height still something that people couldn't surmise.

"Yesterday, my daughter Ultear said that she was the rightful heir to my company. In retrospect, she is right, but also wrong. Jellal is also the heir to my company. And there is one more person. Although we are not related by blood, this man has been through everything with me and all his hard work will not go unnoticed, as all his hard work and sweat has gone into what is today Magnolia Star Agency. And this man, who deserves this company just as much as my own children, is none other than Erigor. While both Jellal and Ultear are musically gifted, I am not, and neither is Erigor. We are the problem solvers, we are what holds this company together. Ultimately, it is my decision who will inherit my company, but I know I need the guidance of those who have always loved the music that we produce. And that is you. Yes, you! The people, the press, famous, not famous, everyone who has helped support me and my artists. In three hours, there will be an online poll which will run on for a week. You get to decide who you want the heir of my company to be, so choose wisely!" And he left, just like that, the bomb he had planted finally going off and spreading its chaos.

* * *

**Erza's Mansion**

Erza sat on her sofa, her head on Gray's shoulder, watching the grave news that Haru had just told everyone. Her legs were stretched out on the long sofa and his feet were on the ground, his legs spread out like the first time they had met **(chapter 2).** After the interview had finished (if it was even to be called that), they both looked into each other's eyes. A moment of silence passed between them, and Erza didn't know whether she wanted to speak the words that she so desperately wanted to say to Gray. Gray nodded, as if giving her approval to speak, knowing that she would have taken it to her grave if he had never told her she could speak. Erza got it right away and said,  
"Is this really what I want?.."

Gray began to sigh, but Erza moved closer to him, now face to face with him, and interrupted him by saying,  
"But Gray, is this truly what I wanted? To pretend to be in a relationship when I already have you; to meet crazy deadlines; to have to always smile in front of others or they will think I'm heartless; to always worry about what the media thinks of me and if I'm doing the right thing; is this really what I want? To panic over every little thing, when I used to do things impulsively just for others, without worrying about myself because I knew that if I could protect the people I cared for, then that was all I wanted. But now, I'm in a dog eat dog world and several times, people have tried to throw me under a bus just so they could succeed. What is the point of all of this Gray?"

Gray sat silently, waiting for the Titania to cry or start questioning herself even further. She did neither of those things, instead seeking refuge in his arms. He held her tightly, his eyes prickly, knowing that it was him who had condemned her into feeling like this. He lifted her chin so she would look at him straight in the eyes once more, sure that even if he wasn't there, she was strong enough that no foe could hurt her. Even if he had joked about her being weak or being too strong, he knew that she had placed enough armour to defeat a whole legion. Better yet, the whole world if need be. He held her cheek and said,  
"No one said that accomplishing their dreams was going to be easy.."  
"But no one said it would be this hard and selfish either! I don't know how much more I can take Gray! I feel like the whole world is crumbling around me, and you are the only thing I'm hanging on to. You only have to say the words 'let go' and I will let go, and I can finally be the girlfriend that you deserve."  
"But you are the girlfriend I deserve and so much more! If anything, I'm the one who doesn't deserve you! All I do is slow you down, and yet you stay by me.. You said your dream was to sing to the world, and now you are singing to the world and doing so many other great things. What the hell can I do?! Jellal is probably more suited to be your boyfriend, if you really want the honest truth. He makes you happy, maybe happier than I could make you, and you two are in the same industry so it makes things a lot less complicated for you.." Gray muttered bitterly.  
"Gray, you know that's not true! If I wanted to be with Jellal then I would have left you long ago! I haven't kissed him once, even though everybody wants me to, and I've dedicated myself to you completely! Sure, I cannot always be there for you because of all the travelling, but I would be there in an instant if I had magic, and you know that very well. And you can't always be there with me either, but I know that you are with me with your heart and that's why I love you!"  
"Well that's not the way I see it!"  
"Then be a jerk, baka Gray!" and Erza stomped out of the house, slamming every door she passed before revving angrily away.

Gray sighed again and cursed himself. He knew that him and Lyon were having money problems, as there was no money left. He had taken his problems out on Erza, and now she was angry at him. He wished he could be as selfless as Erza, who didn't let her feelings of anguish affect how she treated other people, always being true and honest with herself.

_"Erza, what's wrong?" asked Gray. They had just gone onto a ship that Gray had hired for the two of them. It was like a mini cruise ship, and it had been really expensive, but he knew that Erza was definitely worth it. After all, they had barely been able to spend any time with each other those past days. Erza snapped out of her thoughts and smiled shyly at Gray, giving him a light kiss on the nose (which was a first) while saying, "I'm sorry, it's just that the work has quintupled and I was planning how to do it without disturbing anyone."__  
__"Well, now you're with me, so let's fucking get rid of work by having fun!" He said while dragging Erza cheerfully inside the boat. Erza knew that even if he did act like an adult most times, he was still a child at heart, his only true wishes being having fun and being happy. They sat down and Erza saw the scenery of all the dark waves and stars which surrounded them from the walls, which were actually all windows. Erza could also vaguely see fishes beneath her feet, and she stared at all this with pleasurable silence. When she looked back up, feeling embarrassed that she was acting so childish saying things like, "Look! I think it's a fish!" and, "Oh my goodness!" and, "Fishy!" she saw Gray's index finger to his lips, as if silencing her, even though he had a mischievous smile on his face. The ship seemed to be going lower, submerging deeper into the water until all that the windows showed were the underwater animals and the translucent water. Erza stood up and her face was against the window nearest to her, looking at all the corals and different coloured fishes. She felt hands go to her waist and she jumped slightly, completely immersed in the fish watching. She tried to act as if it didn't happen by being more nonchalant, but he held her even closer to him and said, "I'm kinda hungry, so if I can't eat my dinner, I'm eating you.." and bit her neck, which caused him to be kicked in the shin by a very powerful heel. Erza hid her face with her Scarlet hair, hoping that the boy with the Raven hair wasn't too hurt, even though she had intended to hurt him badly for what he had said. All she would hear was Gray cursing under his breath, which made her face lose some of its redness. He sat down, his arms spread on the chair's top and crossing his legs, his expression clearly enraged._

_"Erza, if that happens one more time, I'm going to wear my protective gear around you and make sure to write my will! And you won't be in it!" he shouted, making Erza chuckle. Seeing her so happy made Gray smile, his anger dissipating. He loved to tease her, and he knew the risks to it, but in the end she was always much more cheerful than what she had previously been. And that was all Gray wanted - to see his beautiful Scarlet queen happy. They talked consistently throughout the meal, sharing outrageous stories and telling each other their likes and dislikes which they hadn't known about each other. Every single time they talked, they would always learn new things about each other, their likes, their opinions, their feelings - anything and everything. It was bliss just talking, fancy things not really mattering, only that they were there together. One part of their conversation that shocked Gray was,__  
__"So Erza, do you have any revealing clothes?" he asked in a jokey way, expecting the complete opposite of what Erza was going to say.__  
__"Yes, I do. When I was younger, my mother always liked to dress me up, so we did a lot of cosplay and when I got older, I guess the clothes became a bit more revealing. After all, a girl has to feel sexy at times," she said while giving a wink to the completely stunned Gray, who had completely stopped masticating his food._

_Afterwards, Gray held Erza's hand, this time a lot more gently, and lead her to a door out of the ship. The ship had already gone back to its normal level, so Erza was surprised when she saw that they were practically in the middle of nowhere, still in the sea.__  
__"What's happening Gray?" she asked with caution. Gray had that smile again, like he was up to something and he said,__  
__"Take your clothes off Erza." A moment of silence transpired between them.__  
__"..WHAT!?" screamed Erza. Gray calmly replied,__  
__"Take your clothes off Scarlet, or didn't you hear me?" he asked, his smile growing so wide that his teeth were showing.__  
__"..Gray.. I know we are both sixteen now and it's the legal age for s-.. I-Int-Intercourse, but I don't think I'm ready! And I don't even have matching underwear, and don't get me started about experience, because while you may be a playboy, I've been sheltered from that frivolous life and-" was all she said before Gray burst out laughing, holding onto his stomach for dear life. He laughed incessantly for five whole minutes, spluttering incoherent words before going back to laughing madly. Erza stood there quietly feeling more and more ashamed of herself, guessing rightly that she had probably got the wrong end of the stick. He pointed to the back of the ship and near it was a board with a cable right next to it, attached to the boat.. Erza finally realised what they were going to do - wakeboarding (That sport where there is this cable attached to a boat or something and you use this thing which is like a small surf board and hang on to the cable while the boat goes faster until you fall inside the water :) Sorry if that made no sense xD..). Her dress was way too formal to be used for it, and it was likely that it would get wet. She gingerly took her dress off, ordering Gray to look the other way, which he did for a few seconds before trying to peek at her, only to be reminded of the scar on her back. He quickly looked away again and promised himself to listen to her more, cursing Ultear for doing that to Erza **(refer to chapter 15 ;p)**. When she had finished, she held her arms over her body, as if trying to hide it. Gray (thanks to his stripping habit) had already undressed into his shorts, his body being extremely well sculpted. Erza stared for a bit, only stopping when she heard him chuckle, and she blushed a bit. Gray looked deeply into her eyes and kissed her forehead, telling her, "Don't worry, you look beautiful."_

_Erza finally stopped hiding herself after that, his words like a sweet drug which made her more confident in herself. They went on the board and Erza whispered, "Are you sure that the both of us can fit on that?" which earned her a sly shrug from him. Somehow, they managed to fit on it and they both held on to the grip, hoping that the cable wouldn't snap. The ship started moving, accelerating in speed as time passed and they were both very shaky on the board, almost slipping out of sheer clumsiness a couple of times. When they finally got the gist of it, the ship was at its maximum speed, and the board kept on going incredibly high, making them scream loudly just from the adrenaline. They were both secretly competing with each other, seeing who would be the one to fall first. But they were both very skilled and competitive, so Gray had tried tickling Erza several times and even trying to push her off, which was the signal for her to start playing dirty too. She pushed him while they were in the air, catching him off balance, and making him make a grand splash in the water. Erza had saluted him, deeming herself champion while the ship circled around him, slowing down, showing her in her full glory. Gray slow clapped for his girlfriend, luring her to him. Just as she was about to help him back up on the board, he grabbed her hand and unexpectedly pulled her inside the water. She resurfaced back up and splashed water on him as revenge for grabbing her, which ensued in a water fight. When they had exhausted any fuel they had left, they got back in the boat while staring at the moon._

_Erza studied Gray's features while he sang to her under breath. He knew that she loved it when he sang, and he would do anything to make her happy. Just before he had been about to tell her something, he had seen the way that she had looked so sad and worried, and he had known immediately what the best song to comfort her was:_

**_From my other favourite band, Marianas Trench (and yes, I have two favourite bands and no more, deal with it :p I don't actually have a favourite anything usually, so let me have 5SOS and MT :p) - Beside You [I know all the lyrics for this song ;p!](It's a beautiful song :D I recommend listening to it with headphones when you are doing some long midnight project and you just want to sleep :D.. But don't fall asleep, you need to finish that project O-O):_**

_"When your tears are spent, on your last pretence,__  
__And your tired eyes refuse to close and sleep in your defence,__  
__When it's in your spine, like you've walked for miles,__  
__And the only thing you want is just to be still for a while.._

_Ohh..ehh..ohh..ehh..ohh..uhh_  
_Ohh..ehh..ohh..ehh..ohh..uhh_

_When your heart wears thin.._  
_I will hold you up.._  
_And I will hide you, when it gets too much,_  
_I'll be right.. Beside you.._  
_I'll be right.. Beside you..._

_You're overwhelmed, and you've lost your breath,_  
_And the space between the things you know is blurring nonetheless,_  
_When you try to speak.. But you make no sound.._  
_And the words you want are out of reach, but they've never been so loud!_

_And when your heart wears thin!__  
__I will hold you up..__  
__And I will hide you, when it gets too much,__  
__I'll be right.. Beside you..__  
__I'll be right.. Beside you..._

_I will stay... Here.. Nobody will break.. you!__  
__Uohh.._  
_Trust in me, trust in me, don't pull away!_  
_Just trust in me, trust in me,_  
_Cause I'm just trying to keep it together,_  
_Cause I could do worse and you could do better..._

_Tears are spent, on your last pretence,_  
_And your tired eyes refuse to close and sleep in your defence..._

_And if your heart wears thin!.._  
_I will hold you up.._  
_And I will hide you, when it gets too much,_  
_I'll be right..Beside you_  
_Nobody will break.. you!_

_And if your heart wears thin..! I will hold you up..!_  
_And I will hide you when it gets too much,_  
_I'll be right.. beside you,_  
_Nobody will break.. you.."_

_Gray smiled and turned to look at Erza, to see if she was crying (because his singing usually had that effect on her). Instead, he heard a whisper saying, "I love you.." and soft lips on his. He closed his eyes and smiled into the kiss, blissful._

Gray knew that the house could be repossessed if he didn't do anything about it. But first, he had to consult together with the other person who lived in the house - Lyon. He called Lyon, and he picked up the call very quickly. In fact, Lyon was making his way toward Juvia's house. Gray began the phone call by saying, "We have to sell everything.." Lyon groaned on the other line, sick and tired of hearing those lines for the third time that day, even though he had told Gray to shut up about it. Lyon stopped his car abruptly, the tyre screech loud in Gray's ear. Gray could hear Lyon finally contemplating the idea instead of ignoring it or trying to pass it off. Finally after what seemed like hours of silence, he said,  
"Everything in our house was from Ul, so there's no way that we are going to sell it, no matter how much money we have. I will not live in some empty space just to pay the bills Gray. Think clearly, there is another option," before hanging up. Gray knew that there was another option.. He knew exactly what he was talking about. But he didn't like that option one bit.. He tried to think of something else other than the impending problem, but no amount of television or procrastinating was going to do him any good. He finally quit trying to think of something and called... Ultear.

* * *

**Juvia's House 13:02**

Juvia had just gone grocery shopping as she knew that there were barely any supplies left. It had been horrible going outside of the house, people judging her red, puffy eyes and her red nose. Some people thought she was sick, most thought (correctly) that she was heartbroken. She had avoided any window shopping as she knew that it would only make her even more depressed when she looked at her reflection. It was nearing winter, the summer days finally over, so rain had been pouring down for at least a fortnight where she lived, while still being sunny everywhere else. Her neighbours had all tried to help her, but she had kindly refused it, wanting to go through the pain alone. Juvia had vowed to herself that she would help any girl who was going through a hard time, even more so if they had suffered from a broken heart. Just as she was about to reach her front door, she saw a girl sitting on the street with ragged clothes (a dirty looking, but revealing kimono) with ripped thigh high socks and long black hair, the bangs separated by a white band. She held a sign that said, "Please help me. My boyfriend took everything away from me and now I'm homeless". Juvia took pity on her right away and approached her with a watery smile.

"You've also been through hardship like Juvia, huh?" she said, sitting next to the girl. After what had happened with Lyon, she had relapsed and she now spoke in third person full time. The girl just nodded, so Juvia assumed that she didn't speak very much.  
"You know.. Juvia was rejected by this amazing guy.. But he had a right to, as Juvia only caused him grief.. Juvia doesn't even deserve to think of him, but Juvia's mind is just filled with thoughts of him.." Juvia was about to cry, but the silent girl patted her shoulder in a comforting way, relaxing Juvia a little bit. _What a strange girl, _she thought while comforting the bluenette. When Juvia finally calmed down, she said, "But what Juvia went through is nothing compared to what you went through.. Oh.. What is your name?" The girl took a pen that had almost ran out and wrote her name at the back of the cardboard, "My name is Sayla."  
"Hello Sayla, nice to make your acquaintance," beamed Juvia while holding her hand out waiting for Sayla to shake it. She didn't, and she just looked at it. Juvia awkwardly removed her hand away and smiled at her before saying, "Juvia is my name, if you didn't guess. Juvia's sure that you do not like this cold lonely corner, so would you like to live with Juvia until you find a home?" Sayla smiled and nodded vigorously, glad that she could finally have a place to stay. Juvia had tried endlessly to guess Sayla's age, but to no avail. She looked so ethereal, yet so wise. She didn't know whether she was eighteen or possibly thirty. Juvia knew that thirty seemed way too old, and yet not old enough for the stranger who didn't speak. Juvia guessed that she couldn't speak, which made her even more sorry for the quiet girl. She led her to her home and made her choose any clothes she wanted. Instead of changing, she shook her head. Juvia didn't know what she wanted, so she rummaged for her toy which looked a bit like a tablet, but was completely different. A person could write on the device with the fake pen, and it would be erased by that sliding thing at the bottom. She didn't know what it was called, but she knew it would be useful to Sayla and wouldn't waste any paper.

Sayla wrote, "I want to keep these clothes. I don't like yours." Juvia felt offended, her impeccable sense of style questioned by someone who didn't even really know her. She asked her, "Then what does Sayla want, if you judge poor Juvia so harshly?!"  
"Sayla wants a kimono exactly like this one," she wrote. Juvia sighed and dragged her to the shops, finding the exact replica at a lingerie shop. Juvia decided not to say anything, deciding not to question her new housemate. After finding the perfect fit, Juvia quickly paid for it and forced Sayla to have a shower. After she had finished, she wore her new outfit that was exactly the same as her previous one, except that it wasn't ripped. Juvia smiled contently at Sayla, glad that she was finally done with helping her. She showed her to her room, but Sayla wasn't sleepy yet. In fact, she wanted to explore Juvia's house, which caused her to chase her for ten minutes before she screamed, "ENOUGH SAYLA! Juvia is tired, and Juvia cannot chase after you. If you want, Juvia and Sayla could play a game?" Sayla nodded happily at Juvia, even if a smile had never trespassed her lips. Juvia could see that Sayla was a reserved person, and there was nothing that she could do about it other than accept it. People deserved their privacy, after all...

* * *

**Mulan Residence - 13:24**

Alzack and Bisca were peacefully watching a movie, hand in hand. Even though they were now a couple, they were extremely shy around each other. While it was adorable to watch, their friends knew that it couldn't keep on going like this. That is why they urged Alzack to try and move along their relationship because it wasn't even in first base! Alzack was nervous, because yesterday night he had planned what he was going to do several times, changing his mind at every step of his plan. Bisca had invited him out to stay with her at her new house, and he felt like she was also secretly urging him to be more proactive in their relationship. All his other friends were actually doing everything that he wasn't, and even the new couple of Gray and Erza were so lovey-dovey and went on countless dates. Alzack prepared himself for what he was about to do, saying a little prayer just before. He pretended to yawn, stretching his arms out really wide, strategically trying to place it around Bisca's shoulder's as told by Gajeel,  
_"When watching a movie, always pretend to yawn and put your arms around her, pulling her closer to you. It makes the girl feel safe and protected!" he said in his hyperactive way._

But that plan failed, as Bisca had gotten up to re-fill her bowl of popcorn. "I'll be back," she said shyly. In fact, the girls had been telling her what their boyfriends always did and how to avoid it, because men loved taking what wasn't completely theirs (she basically had to play hard to get). Levi had told her, _"If you are on a seat together at quite a close proximity, and he's about to yawn, it means that he's trying to put his arm on your shoulder. You are not his property, and you have to show him that by getting up before he can touch you, understood?" she said with a little wink._

Bisca made her way towards the kitchen cupboard and took the popcorn bag, feeling someone close behind her. Alzack was getting closer to Bisca, hoping to put Loke's plan in action. _"To make her all flustered and to make you seem more in control, you have to toy with her. As she's trying to reach for something, just go behind her and reach for it. She'll find you helpful and seductive at the same time, being at such a close proximity to her. If you're confident, you can even turn her around and kiss her until she feels like she's melting. But who are we kidding? You aren't a pro like me! Haha!"_

_Bisca kept in mind what all of Loke's one night stands in the school had told her, "Loke always likes to attack from behind, trying to act like a gentleman and take whatever you were reaching for. All you have to do to dodge that attack is act as if you dropped something on the other side of the room, or even just move to the left or right, as if you are still looking for that something." _And that is exactly what Bisca did, as she quickly grabbed the bag of popcorn seeds and "accidentally" dropped them 2 metres away. She went to reach for it, another alarm bell ringing in her mind and a plan hatching away in Alzack's brain.

_"Alzack, if she drops something, don't pick it up, just 'accidentally' hold her hand and she will be weak in the knees, thinking you're helpful and hot," Natsu had said with a large smile plastered to his face._ So he shadowed Bisca, reaching for the bag, but she was ready, yet again. _Lucy had given her advice on how she dealt with it when it happened to her, "Well, Natsu always does that, and he makes me so nervous that I just stutter and look like a complete idiot! Well, if he wants to be the hero, then he can pick it up by himself and pass it to me, or just do what I was going to do by himself. I'm not looking like an idiot for him!" she said, anger flaring in her eyes, something that she had gotten from Natsu. _So that is what she did, which took Alzack by surprise. She said, "Thank you Al, just put it in the popcorn machine for me," and walked away back to the sofa. He did it, severely disheartened at how much his plan was failing as everything he was doing wasn't working, and there was only one piece of advice that Alzack had left, and it was from the best; the one and only - Gray! **(You can see where this is going -.-..)**

He sat down again with renewed excitement, hoping that the last plan would work. _"I would usually tell you to play games and try to win her by doing little tricks, but Erza plays hard to get practically all the time, almost always having her defences up. Sometimes, you just have to be direct with her and she'll understand your feelings," he had said with a small, knowing smile. _Alzack straddled Bisca and kissed her deeply, knowing that she couldn't back away from it. Bisca had had no time to avoid it, as Erza hadn't given her any advice. But she didn't mind, because she preferred him being direct with her.

* * *

**Unknown Location- Unknown Time**

Lucy woke up, her mind completely clear. It was a weird sensation for her. When she woke up from sleep, she usually felt groggy and tired, but not this time. She felt fully awake and everything felt crystal clear to her. She couldn't remember when she had been in such a clear state of mind, the only thing hindering her perfect state of mind was the dark lighting and a sound that was very close to her that wouldn't stop. Lucy turned her head around to see a young child who was crying. She was female, and she was adorable, but her tears were making Lucy also depressed. Right away, she realised that it was Lulu, Lisanna's first personality. _But how can it be? _she wondered, her head finally feeling the pain from the impact she had felt before she had fallen to the ground. She tried to reach for the location of the wound to check for a bump, but something was in the way.. Ropes.. In fact, she noticed that both her and Lulu were tied up on plastic chairs. Lulu continued wailing and screaming, begging to be released.

Lucy finally studied the surroundings, noticing hospital beds and rectangular lights; she was at some sort of derelict hospital. Most of the lights were either flashing or broken, as if no one cared for the building. The walls were cracked and the once white tiles were grey, a colour which made Lucy feel even more despair at the place. She saw a hospital not for people, but for madmen, people who had been driven to the brink, being classed as insane by all the other 'sane' people. Lucy knew that no one was normal and everyone had something that made them 'crazy', it was just that some people hid it more than others and some 'crazy' things were considered normal. She closed her eyes and breathed in and out before coughing dramatically, the dust too much for her.

She opened her now watery eyes to see a shape on a hospital bed. Lucy squinted her eyes even more to try and figure out who it was, and her eyes widened when she realised it was Lisanna. She was out cold, and Lucy could see that she was wearing an elegant white dress while holding a bouquet. What made Lucy's eyes widen even further was that Natsu was next to her, while wearing a white suit. Lucy's heart contracted when she saw that Natsu's face was contorted in pain, a small pool of blood where he had been shot still there as he held onto Lisanna's hand. Lucy didn't know what pained her more - to see Natsu in so much pain or to see him with Lisanna, as if they were the perfect couple.

Before Lucy was about to cry silent tears at being so helpless, she heard footsteps approaching. She instantly made her face void of any emotion and she saw a tall, classy woman with a Little Black Dress and long, blonde curls. If Lucy had been less delirious she would have said that Alva almost looked like an adult version of her with curly hair and a mole just above her lip. She could see that Alva was very happy with what she had done, smiling proudly at Lisa's corpse (because Lucy didn't know if she was alive) and Natsu's dying body.

Alva finally seemed to realise that the other two were there, Lucy still quiet while Lulu seemed to get even louder, begging for all the attention to be on her. Alva went to Lulu first, patting her head and giving her a lollipop to calm down. And it worked, the previously loud Lulu had gone on to have a peaceful slumber. Lucy found Alva to be almost motherly in that instant. While she had been caring for Lulu, Lucy had realised that the three personalities were of different stages of life; Lulu representing childhood, Lisanna being the teenager to young adult, and Alva being the most mature one - Adulthood. Or more specifically, motherhood.

Alva turned to face Lucy, grabbing a chair to sit face to face with the girl who looked almost exactly like her with very minor differences.  
"Hello Lucy," she said in a calm, business-like voice.  
"And I'm guessing you are Alva?" she whispered cautiously.  
"Yes I am," she said while graciously smiling. All was still for a moment except for Natsu's display of pain. Lucy had so many questions coursing through her, but she knew that probably none would leave her lips. She was too agitated, Natsu's well being was the only thing that was taking up her mind, full time.

"So, you may think that me and Lulu are parts of Lisanna, but that's not true. Lisanna is also another personality. Except that she's the most dominant personality, and so she gets to keep her body. And anyway, me and Lulu didn't really want her body. Too young for me, and way too old for Lulu.. Anyway, that's not what I was going to say.. You may think that I'm just another stupid personality, but I don't think I am. My brain is so powerful that it has allowed me to create a way to separate us three. But before I move onto that story, I should probably tell you that in another life, I was a genius. That's what I think anyway, because I was blessed with a gifted mind. Maybe Lisa and Lu also had past selves, but maybe we died at these stages of our lives. I'm sure you know what I mean - How we all fit a certain age group. I think that maybe the thing that links us all together is that we never got to find true love, no matter how hard we tried, because we died too early when we weren't supposed to, especially poor Lu. One of us deserves love, don't you think?" she said calmly as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"So I used my brain to finally do something about our situation, after I finally had control of Lisa's body. We had decided that Lisa would get ownership of the body after only one month of being with her. Whenever she uses the body, we cannot do anything: we can't even have coherent thoughts. That's why I needed full control of Lisa's body. I used it to create a machine to enable me to split us so Lisanna could finally be with Natsu. We knew that we had no chance, and we knew that she did like Natsu, and it could hopefully develop into something more. After all, if no one is going to look after us, who will?.." A torrent of tears were now overflowing, but Alva didn't shy away or try to wipe them away. "We had to make her happy, no matter what. Can you understand that?" she asked, her voice cracking for the first time in that whole speech.

Lucy had finally realised something else... Alva and Lulu both sincerely cared for Lisanna and only wanted what was best for her. They knew that they couldn't be saved, so they had devoted their lives to make Lisanna happy. They only wanted to see her happy, and Lucy really admired that. Such friendship... Scratch that. Such sisterhood was something to be envied, and it made Lucy wish that she could have such a strong bond with someone. She didn't know what she could to do make Alva understand, but she saw from the way that they silently communicated that she knew her feelings. Alva smiled, her tears drying on her cheeks.

"I'm sorry Alva.. I didn't get it.." Lucy whispered. Alva laughed, as if she had heard something hilarious.  
"Of course you didn't! It's not every day that you are stuck inside a body with two other people trying to play matchmaker!"  
"But you must have been through so much! And what if your theory is true? What will happen to you and Lu?"  
"A lot of people have been through a lot, and comparing who has gone through the most amount of pain is useless. And it seems that me and Lu will have to die alone in this life.. That's fine. At least Lisa can be happy.." Lucy stayed quiet, biting her lip, trying not to anger Alva. If she was to blurt out that she thought that she and Natsu were soul mates, not him and Lisanna, then Alva would feel like all she had done for Lisanna would be useless.

Lucy realised that the rope around her wrists wasn't tight at all, so she had started to remove them while trying to talk to Alva. She knew that Alva had done it on purpose, even though she had no reason to. "Alva.. How does it feel to be free?" asked Lucy solemnly. Alva began to cry, yet again not hiding her tears.  
"It's so painful... It hurts- it hurts too much. The transition from that body to this body was probably not meant to be, and I probably cannot stand this pain any longer than twelve hours. I'm surprised Lu's holding it in so well, considering that she must be feeling the same pain as me, and she's only a child. She is very strong.. I can see how she has survived so long being so young and childish, yet being even more mature than me in certain situations. You may have seen her as weak when she was crying, but that was the only time she had shown any pain. It was also a way to wake you up... Lu cares about everyone, no matter who it is. She can see the good in others and bring it out in mysterious ways.. Ouch!.." she saw Alva grab her stomach in pain, her face looking just as in pain as Natsu's.

Finally free, she reached for Alva's contorted body and hugged her tightly not needing any words to say what she wanted to say. What she couldn't formulate into words, she could easily say with a small gesture, and that small gesture was a hug. When they pulled away, Alva was yet again in tears. "Alva, don't cry.. Everything will be alright," Lucy comforted, hoping that it would stop Alva's tears, as she hated seeing others cry. When she had stopped, Lucy still had that one question that was making her jumpy and scared.

"Alva, how do we save Natsu? I know that you shot him, but that doesn't matter anymore. We need a way to save him so he doesn't die. You said you were a genius, so please help save him! I cannot lose him! I was so worried about him and then he left.. I don't blame you for that either, because it was my fault for allowing that guy to kiss me.. I should have been more careful... But I can't live without him Alva, do you understand? He's everything to me and I care for him too much.. If I'll lose him, I know that I'll also die inside, and I don't think you want that.. Please help me.." Lucy cried. But leaving Alva to calm down had only made her pain worse, and she seemed too broken to do anything, never mind help her. Lucy patted her hand gently and quickly thought of a plan, knowing that it had to work or they would all be screwed...

Lucy stared at the pair on the bed, her heart tightening at the sight of the 'married couple'. She shook the thoughts away and slapped Lisanna hard. Not because of any feelings of resentment, but just to wake her up... Okay, maybe just a tiny bit for being in a dress that she was supposed to be wearing. She woke up with a jolt, shouting, "What the hell would you do that for?! Have I done anything bad to you!?" before she realised it was Lucy and calmed down. "Oh.. Lucy... What's happening, if you don't mind me asking?" asked a confused Lisanna. Lucy gave her a hand, and she lifted Lisanna off the bed. She patted herself down, admiring the dress, before realising that Alva was crying, Lulu was asleep and Natsu was still bleeding. Her eyes became saucers and Lucy said, "Yeah.. That's happening. Would you mind helping me with Natsu?"  
"Of course! Let's hurry up, he's been bleeding like this for too long... How is he even still alive?!"

So they found the exit and rushed to the hospital, Lisanna driving because she had actually gotten her driver's license. As they rode on, Lucy in the back seat taking care of Natsu, she contemplated what to say to her. Could she tell her what Alva had told her? Did she already know? Lisanna broke the silence by saying,  
"Yes, I already know about Alva's theory... I think it's a plausible theory, but it still makes me wonder - why only the three of us? Why couldn't other people be chosen? Because of this whole mess Alva and Lu are in pain while I get to be completely fine, and Natsu is here and he might be on his death bed..."  
"Wait.. how do you know that Alva and Lu are in pain? And do you have any other theories?"  
"We are connected.. That's why they feel pain, because we are all separated and not all in the same body... I know when they are in pain, just like when I am in pain and they know it, even if they can't feel it.. And I guess I do have a theory, two, in fact... But they seem too fantastical and stupid. And they aren't all that different from Alva's. After all, she is the smartest one in our little group.."  
"I still want to hear your views," Lucy patiently insisted, knowing that the drive to the hospital would be quite long anyway, no matter how much they went above the speed limit.  
"...Okay.." she whispered, not sure that she wanted to voice her opinions.

"Well, my first theory is that we were actually all related. Alva was our mother, always taking care of us, and Lu was my little sister. She had probably done bad things to protect us, and the father of Lu and I was probably a very evil man, so we had probably been accomplices to kill him, Lu making the final, killing shot. We may have all died in a car crash that same night and we were given a second chance... I saw this on a news article, and the people also had similar names to us - Ilva (the mother), Anna (the eldest daughter) and Lola (the youngest daughter). Then again, it's very farfetched and too coincidental... The next one is a bit better, but it's probably the most farfetched idea by far. The main gist of it is that in three different eras, there were three different types of girls. Lu's story is that she had liked a boy, but she knew that she could never go with him as she was too rich and in those times as a female, you could only marry someone of a higher rank than you. So she and her young lover were being chased when they were running away, and the only option was to jump, so they jumped into a river and while he survived, she died. That's why Lu hates anything to do with water. Then there's me. I was from a world were magic actually existed, and I could transform into any creature I wanted. My brother accidentally killed me, but it wasn't me, it was a me from another world, while I was in her world, posing as her to others. But in the end, I made a deal with someone powerful so that her family could have her back, because she had sacrificed her life for me, so I gave her back her life... Even though the man I was in love with had tried to rescue me, but he had been too late.. I don't know who the person could have been, but I'm sure it wasn't Natsu.. Anyway. Finally, Alva. Alva had been a powerful business woman who had been ruthless and powerful, always caring for others. She fell in love with a man, but he had always looked at other women because he was very good looking and he thought he could have anyone he wanted. So when she had broken up with that guy and gone with a new one, she was overprotective of him, making sure that no other girl could take him away, no matter what. What she didn't know was that he was actually a serial killer, so she was killed by him. And that is the fate of the three unfortunate women.. Or it's really simple and we all just got implanted in this body, no background story included.."

"Wow.." thought Lucy aloud, making Lisanna's serious face break into a chuckle. Lucy smiled guiltily, still running her hands through Natsu's hair. When she did it, it always comforted him. He was like a cat in that sense, always wanting to be petted and fed. Lucy was so blessed to have him back by her side, even if he was in excruciating pain. Lisanna had finally reached the hospital and she rushed in to call for the A&amp;E department, or the Emergency Room department. They quickly rushed him in, the doctors looking extremely preoccupied. They knew that only seconds mattered, his life being close to either being saved or being lost. Both Lisanna and Lucy fell asleep, not aware of what would happen in the course of their sleep that changed everything.

When they woke up, a nurse was in front of them, a huge smile on her face. She started with, "The operation was a huge success! Thanks to the two donors, your friend could be revived! How lucky it was that the blood type was the same, or we couldn't have saved the young boy.." Before Lucy could ask what she meant by that, Lisanna rushed out of the hospital to the previous location, not caring how fast she went. Before she could drive the car, a hand held her wrist. She glared angrily at the blonde, seething, "Let. Go." Lucy shook her head before saying, "I'm coming with you.." Lisanna gave her a small apologetic smile before rushing into the car, accompanied by Lucy.

This time, they rode on in complete silence, the only thing making any sound was the rain that was now pummelling down on the car. When they arrived, they did not care one bit about getting wet. They entered the abandoned hospital, now being daylight, even though inside it was as dark as the previous night. Both Lucy and Lisanna had prayed for everything to be okay, but they knew that deep in their hearts, something had happened. They didn't know exactly what, but they were soon going to find out.

Lisanna opened the last unchecked door while Lucy was in another room completely, making sure that that room was empty when she heard a strangled cry. She rushed to Lisanna, fearing for the worst. On the floor where two bodies, one of a child, the other of a woman, an empty place where their hearts had been gauged out. Lisanna was paralysed, and wouldn't dare move, so Lucy slowly walked to them, getting closer to the two corpses. She saw a note covered in blood, and she picked it up, fresh tears escaping from her eyes. She dropped on the floor, her knees too weak to hold her body weight and read the letter aloud which said,

"_We are sorry for all the trouble we have caused you, and we love you so much.. We knew that our lives weren't meant to be from the start, and we were only intruders to you. I (Alva) knew that I had aimed so perfectly that there was no way he would have survived, even if the doctors were the most advanced doctors in the whole world. The only way we could save him was if we gave him our hearts, and isn't it ironic how you were the one who was supposed to give him your heart, but you never fell in love with him? We are really sorry, and we want you to take care of yourself. Maybe, in another life, we can find our happiness.. But for now, we will leave you with a sweet adieu, and we hope you can find the perfect one for you. Tell Lucy that we are sorry, and that if she can forgive me by using my own heart to save Natsu, then I may rest in peace. Lulu says that my heart is too weak to save him, and she is right. If we only gave him my heart, his life would only last for ten to twenty years because I was always meant to die young. But Lu, Lu's heart is a treasure that I hope he can cherish... Even in the face of death, Lulu remains strong, and she wishes to also say goodbye. We will miss you dearly Lisa.._

_Love, Alva and Lulu x"_

Both girls cried their hearts out, feeling the deep scar that had been planted there from the death of Natsu's heroes. Lucy knew that she shouldn't have even been there, as it was Lisanna who had known them the most. She gave a hug to Lisanna and allowed her to mourn alone near her sisters, while Lucy went outside and cried just as much as Lisanna, feeling the same pain. Whatever happened to them, they would always remain engraved in their hearts, no matter how bad their memory would become or how old they would get...

...A few hours later, when Lisanna had been helped by Lucy to bury and make graves for both Alva and Lulu, Lisanna had suddenly gotten a phone call. Lisanna picked it up, tears still flowing incessantly.  
"Hello baby sister, I'm coming home.." said the voice Lisanna had longed to hear.

* * *

**Ultear's Modern Hotel 22:05**

Gray had finally managed to talk to Ultear, and had even been allowed to enter her apartment (which was an achievement in and itself). He sat opposite her on a red swivel chair while she drank her red wine, still contemplating on whether to accept or reject Gray's proposal. On one hand, it was definitely beneficial to her in every way, and she knew that he would finally listen to what had been ordered for him to do. And yet, he had broken it countless times. What if he broke it yet again? Ultear couldn't trust him, and her trust in people had diminished even more when she had heard Haru nominate another candidate for her company.

Yes, she didn't really want it. It was really just to create a scandal and to show her dearest daddy that she did have power and influence, he just didn't know its full potential. She didn't think he would go so far as to kill her, but she had a vague idea that she may have put herself in danger, and that she was dealing with dangerous people. After all, Erigor hated her. They had known each other when they were younger, him being only slightly older than her. Her pet name for him had been 'little pet slave boy' because he had always been on errands for her father. He had always been that annoying teacher's pet, but in her case, the teacher was the father. She checked her phone and saw that Jellal was leading the vote, her in second place because of the feminist movements and lustful men and Erigor in third. Knowing that he was last pleased Ultear, but she knew that if her father favoured him, it would easily be a lost battle.

There was only one way to get her father to be by her side, and she needed Gray for that plan to work. She smiled sweetly, her mind made up.  
"Yes, I'll do it and you can keep everything. After all, it is my mother's house, and there is no way I'm going to sell it.. You also agreed to the other matter, so that's great.. But there's one thing that bothers me about this arrangement, and I'll tell you what it is. If you decide to do it, you can have everything."

"Great, what is it?" asked Gray cautiously.  
"First, you have to promise that you'll do it. You and I know that this deal is so much more than money. The money is worthless compared to what will become in the future. Are you ready for it?"  
Gray knew right away that he wouldn't like whatever she said. But he also knew that there was no way to back out of it, as it really wasn't just about the money. He cursed what he had agreed to years ago, even now, even when they had been in court while Erza had been defending Ultear. Everyday seeing or thinking of Ultear, just staying in that house reminded him of what he couldn't change, no matter how hard he tried..

"I promise..."  
"Great!

I want you to break up with Erza, and never go back with her again," she said with a satisfied smile.

**And there you go ;) Yeah, I know, I'm a horrible person :p But you need someone to be horrible, or who else is going to be horrible? This story isn't unicorns and butterflies! :p Stay happy my adorable royal chibis (yes, now you have been promoted from being adorable, to being kings and queens. Congratz, you guys deserve it ;) ) and remember that saving a life isn't just in the physical sense, but the emotional sense too. Remember to make others happy because whatever kind words you say to them, they will appreciate a lot more than they could ever say ;) And you can snack or sleep, I know, another pretty long chapter xD And if you want Lisanna to have a boytoy, please tell me ;) HUGS! ~(*^-^*)~ XXXXX**

**~Roxanne**


	47. Muted

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Hello beautiful people! :D I've been lazy, I know, but it's summer vacation! xD Thanks again for being patient with me and I hope you enjoy this chapter :D (You probably need tissues if you cry easily...) And I was looking over my previous chapters and I want to say that I am so sorry for all the mistakes and disasters I made xD! I'm still not perfect, but I'm trying :3 And as I've said before, I'm not a monster, so PM me if you want ;)**

**Sukaretto20: Haha, I see you feel very strongly about what happened in the previous chapter xD! Well.. this chapter won't really be any happier, so sorry if you hate me o-o.. And I'm updating now, don't worry ;p And aww, please don't let your heart break, I'm sorry! I would like to make your heart happy but.. the story's already written x3.. And Sukaretto, didn't you have an account on FF, or am I insane? O-O**

**And one more thing- My friend Yumi-tan has written this adorable fanfiction called Famous Childhood Friend as well as writing another story (which is a one shot) but it's really amazing (but it's not out yet, so you just have to patiently wait for them ;p). Please read them, they are so good x3!**

**Chapter XLVII: Muted**

**[The original title was Cards of Fate, so you choose which you prefer :)]**

**Magnolia Hospital 5 AM**

Lucy patiently sat next to Natsu, who was asleep on the hospital bed. She held his hand, afraid that if she let go, she would also lose him. She had experienced so much and in a space of only a few hours- she had felt like she had made two new friends and they had left her and died. It was even more meaningful as they had taken their own lives to save Natsu. This made Lucy appreciate that Natsu was still alive and made her cherish him even more, as she didn't want Alva and Lulu's sacrifice to be in vain. She knew she had to stay strong, and the doctors had even whispered something about complications. As Natsu did have two hearts, it meant that it would take up a lot more space, as well as need more blood to pump around the body. If his body couldn't do that, he would have a heart failure and might even have a heart attack and die. The idea scared Lucy because she didn't want to feel like she had lost him again. Hearing that he had been shot by Alva had made her heart feel as if it had died. It had been such a scary thought, living without him. And the thing that petrified her even more was that they had not been able to do anything as a couple other than kiss, hug and all the simple, cutesy stuff. Meanwhile, their friends (Hibiki and Cana) had already gone through so much and had even gotten married at such a young age. Even Bisca and Alzack, the newest couple, had already kissed several times in the first few days of being together (Lucy had known the couple previously during their childhood, so they had contacted each other frequently and became great friends). Lucy felt jealous, but at the same time she knew that it was unfair on the couple. Natsu was definitely the type of person to move slowly in a relationship and take his time to do anything because he would never have the courage to do anything more. It wasn't anybody's fault that the two teenagers were too shy to try anything other than kissing and hand holding, but Lucy felt like maybe they could move on a bit further. Definitely not marriage yet, but stage C...**(You'll get this reference if you've read Suki Desu Suzuki Kun ;p)**

She snapped out of her thoughts when she felt a hand squeezing hers and she saw Natsu seated on the bed, confusion on his face but at the same time, that sweet, innocent smile he always showed her. Lucy began crying, stunned to see him literally back from the dead. Natsu comforted her, telling her that he was alright and there was no reason for her to worry, because he was alive. Yet she continued crying, and Natsu could do nothing to stop her tears. Instead, he caressed her cheek and wiped away the tears with his thumb, which was a great comfort to the Blonde. "Yo Lucy, I'm back!" Natsu said after her tears had stopped flowing. She gave him a watery smile and said, "Welcome back Natsu," before giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek. He reddened and scratched his hair in embarrassment, a content smile on his face. "So what happened Luce?" he asked, ensuing another waterfall from Lucy. This time, Natsu couldn't stop her tears, and Lucy knew she was acting odd, but she couldn't help it. She had to tell Natsu everything, no matter how much it hurt her to. She talked as she sobbed, hoping that Natsu wouldn't ask her to speak more clearly, as she didn't think that she had the capacity to. Lucy wasn't a cry baby, she knew that, yet she kept on uncharacteristically crying. But at least this time, she had a very good reason to. After all, she had seen two dead bodies...

"I.. I don't know how to tell you this Natsu.. I'll try- I'll try to explain what happened... Y-your heart failed.. It was shot by Alva.."  
"Who..Who's Alva?" asked Natsu, confused, but trying not to show it to his girlfriend as he could see that she was already having a hard time.  
"S..She's Lisanna's second personality.. Was.. And so was Lulu, her first personality. Actually.. Lisanna is also a personality too.." her voice trembled uncharacteristically. Natsu shuffled to his right and patted the space on his bed to indicate that Lucy should sit there. She complied, and he put his arms around her shoulders, hoping it would provide a bit of comfort to her. And it did, making her continue with less tears.  
"So.. Alva shot you, and Lisanna called me to say that you were dead. I wanted to see for myself because I didn't believe that you could actually die.. You are everything to me Natsu," she said as she snuggled onto his shoulder. Natsu kissed the top of her head to tell her that his feelings were mutual. It was hard enough for him when everything was normal to stay away from her, hoping to receive her radiant smile or be the recipient of one of her sweet kisses. Once, he had even thought that her and Gray had secretly been dating, as she always looked at him with affection. Luckily, he discovered soon enough that it wasn't the case.

_"Hey Natsu, sorry I'm late. What did I miss?" Lucy huffed, holding a book of some sort.__  
__"Nothing.." Natsu sighed before trying to mask it by smiling at Lucy. They had scheduled to meet at the library because they were going to study for a pop quiz that their maths teacher had suddenly bombarded on them, but Lucy had been over an hour late. Moreover, Natsu knew the reason why she had been so late. It was because she had been with Gray and it had gone over time. He didn't know what was so important that she had needed to be one hour late, but he felt annoyed and sad. He felt like he was second best when it came with relationship status with Lucy. Not that he wanted to be with her or anything, but it seemed obvious to him that her and Gray had a secret relationship, masked by the smokescreen that they were just really great childhood friends. They chose to sit by the windows, which showed a beautiful view of the Magnolia Gardens. They sat opposite each other, the table horizontal to the walls with the windows. Lucy noticed that he was bothered by something, but he didn't want to tell her. Not knowing what to do to brighten his mood, she asked,__  
__"What's wrong Natsu? Did someone hurt you or annoy you?" He didn't even reply, choosing to look away, his brow crinkled by heavy thoughts. Lucy suddenly got pissed and slapped Natsu's cheeks with both hands, holding on to him and squeezing his face into a fish expression.__  
__"Tell me what's wrong now or I'll be mad at you Natsu. Why are you acting so annoyed?" she fumed.__  
__"Says the person who smacked the person they are accusing of being 'annoyed'," Natsu rebuked, both their expressions angry as he gently removed Lucy's hands from his face. He continued looking out of the window, and Lucy slightly frowned, wanting to know why her friend was being so different from usual. After all, she was the one who was supposed to be acting different by being shy and trying to flirt with him without him thinking that she was putting the moves on him. Why were boys so complicated?! She had finally wanted to ask him to hang out, just the two of them- but now he was acting like this. It had been Erza who had given her the idea to talk to Natsu, after all._

_..._

_They all sat in class listening to a boring lecture. As the preparations for the three buildings to be combined were still not complete, only a few students were in class. Luckily, she sat with Erza, while Gray sat with Natsu as they called each other "Stripper!" "Dragon Queen!" and all sorts of things, getting shushed by the teacher. Instead, Lucy and Erza had been going through a creative process, drawing doodles at the edge of pages in each other's books, including ridiculous memes and even a story doodle of stick man Natsu and stick man Gray hating each other and then passionately making out, causing a fit of giggles for the two Student Council Members. After the tedious lecture had ended, Erza and Lucy were eating their lunch, both of them just having sandwiches.__  
__"Don't you have anyone to make your lunch box Erza? I bet they would be super kawaii!" Lucy exclaimed.__  
__"No.. My mum and dad are always travelling for.. Well, it doesn't matter. Anyway, they are never home, so I have to buy my own lunches, because I never feel like cooking.."__  
__"I'm sorry.."__  
__"Why do you feel sorry? There's no reason to feel sorry. They call almost every day and they are the best parents I could hope for. After all, it's not like they are travelling for selfish reasons," she said with a gracious smile on her face.__  
__"Oh Erza-chan, why do you make me feel so unworthy?" Lucy said while slumping onto her desk. Erza chuckled before saying,__  
__"So why doesn't anyone make your bento?"__  
__"Because my mother is dead, and my father doesn't care about me.." she mumbled sadly. Erza sat silently for a moment, munching on her plain sandwich.__  
__"I'm sure that if she was alive now, she would surely make sure that you have the cutest looking bento in the world." Lucy turned her head (which was still on the desk) to face Erza and smile at her. Everyone she knew would always get nervous when she said her mother was dead so easily and then say rubbish like "How do you feel about it?" or "I'm so sorry to hear that. You have to stay strong though.." Sure, she appreciated the concern, but she had lost her a long time ago, and she knew that her mother was watching over her and cared for her immensely. She felt absolutely fine and she didn't need others to ask her how she 'felt', or she would doubt herself and relive the moment that someone had told her that her mother was dead... But Erza wasn't like them, and she could see that Lucy was happy and knew that her mother was watching over her. The Scarlet haired maiden reciprocated the smile and asked her friend,__  
__"So what have you done about Natsu?" she asked. The Blonde sighed, knowing that she was going to have the same conversation with Erza for at least the tenth time. The first conversation, and a few ones after that, she had gone all red and embarrassed, telling her that she would figure something out. Instead, she felt like she was still going nowhere as she hadn't even thought of a plan to get him to spend some time with her alone.__  
__"Not good, I'm guessing?"__  
__"Bingo! Erza, what am I supposed to do? He's so hard to talk to because so many other people always take his attention away..."__  
__"Why don't you ask him on a group study session, but with only you two? You two are both failing at maths, so you can use it as an excuse to practice together and get better at it together," Erza suggested.__  
__"Way to make me seem stupid," pouted Lucy, "But it may actually work.. Thank you so much Erza, the greatest Titania and best friend ever!" she said while hugging Erza and rubbing her face against hers. Erza got instantly annoyed with her and shouted, "Let go!" But the Blonde ignored her, knowing that Erza's fierceness could be easily ignored, especially by inflicting physical contact on her, which made her embarrassed.__  
__"What's the commotion?" asked Gray, who had taken his shirt off with his recurring stripping habit.__  
__"Yeah, why are you and Luce making more noise than we usually do?" Natsu said, a large smile on his face. Lucy began stumbling with her words for an explanation, a rose colour appearing on her pale cheeks as she tried to explain herself while looking at the floor. Meanwhile, Gray spotted a really large book on Lucy's desk that he had seen ever since she had entered Fairy Tail. She never usually kept anything in written format for long, and she had never kept a diary as a child, so he was very curious about its contents. So while she blathered on, he drank his juice from the straw while he read the book with his other hand. As soon as he had started reading the book, Lucy screamed, "Don't read it!" and snatched it away from him. Surprised by her sudden impulsiveness, he had given it up pretty easily. He raised his eyebrow at her only to be glared at. Erza knew that she had to smooth over the situation, so she said,__  
__"Listen Natsu, would you like to go in a study session with Lucy and I? After all, you are both really bad at maths, so you need all the help you can get."__  
__"That's too harsh Erza!" Natsu also pouted, "But sure! It will be fun with you guys."__  
__"Hey what about me?!" screamed Gray, feeling left out. Erza stood up at his outburst and took his arm to drag him out of the classroom and into the boy's toilets. All the guys screamed at her being there and ran out. Erza leaned against a wall and said, "Listen ice brain-,"__  
__"Seriously, you too? Stop hanging out with Natsu, he's a bad influence on you!" Gray said while slamming his hand on the wall next to her, looking at her glaring eyes.__  
__"Shut up. I'm trying to arrange for Natsu and Lucy to spend some time alone, but you being there won't help the situation. I wasn't even going to show up because I was going to say I had another appointment, but if two people play the same game, then they will find it suspicious. Moreover, Natsu thinks that you and Lucy might have something going on, and even though I know it's not true, the way you look at each other, as if the whole world cannot break your bond; the secret, unspoken words you say just by eye-contact; the way your eyes sparkle when you see each other; the way nobody can interrupt your conversations, as if they were something sacred. All these things and more make you seem like a couple, and it's unsettling.."__  
__"Oh, am I going insane? Is the Titania actually jealous?" he savoured those words. It earned him a slap, and he held his cheek in surprise. He had expected her to hurt him, sure, but by kicking him and walking away, not just standing there and looking at the floor, away from him. Did his words contain a bit of truth?.. No..Not possible. Wiping the surprise away from his face, he took her cheek and said, "Don't worry your pretty head, we would never go with each other even if we wanted to," before kissing her gently on the nose and walking away. What he didn't notice was how she had dropped slowly to the floor and held her nose, her face the same colour as her hair._

_..._

_So Lucy had been late because she had tried helping a homeless person, only to be punched by them and get all her things stolen, including her precious book, which was a diary directed to her mother. She had chased down the thief and even made sure that he was arrested, restoring justice in the world. By the time she realised what time it was, she was really far away from the library. So she had sprinted to the library, hoping that Natsu wouldn't be too mad at her.__  
__And he was, and she had decided to stare intently at him until he spoke to her. Even when he turned red because he realised that she was staring at him, she still continued. After that continued for a while, he said,__  
__"Stop staring at me!" while covering his cheek and mouth, making Lucy smile at how adorable he looked.__  
__"No." she said simply.__  
__"Huh?"__  
__"I said no. Not until you talk to me."__  
__"Okay, fine! We can start this stupid maths homework then.." He started solving formulae on his own with difficulty, and Lucy moved her chair next to him and talked about the different questions, getting no reply for him. He still wouldn't speak to her. When he had finished the questions and had placed his hands on the table, Lucy took one of them and Natsu slightly jumped.__  
__"What the hell Lucy-"__  
__"Natsu. I know something's bothering you, so tell me or I will hold your hand and make sure that it's stuck with metaphorical glue. I will even go to the bathroom with you if that's what it takes.." she said with a straight face. Out of habit, he scratched his hair with his free hand and said,__  
__"I'm sorry Luce.. It's just that.. I don't think you should be with me. After all, your boyfriend Gray must be waiting for you and I also have to feed Happy anyway, so don't worry about me.." Lucy stared at him for a long time before letting go of his hand. Natsu's smiling expression crumbled and he faced away from her, her reaction to his words the only confirmation he needed.__  
__"Natsu," she said, trying to get him to turn to her. She repeated his name again and when he didn't turn, she turned his face for him and got so close to him that their noses were touching.__  
__"No offence, but I would never date Gray. I'm sorry I was late, and I'm sorry that when I'm with Gray it looks like we are in love or some other bullshit, but that's not the case. We are just really close childhood friends and that's all we'll ever be. Please believe me when I say this," she said resolutely. Natsu smiled before flicking her forehead, and she squealed in pain.__  
__"Why did you do that?!"__  
__"I believe you. Thanks for telling me." The smile that he was giving her was enough to make her stop and just stare at him, like he was the most beautiful thing in the world._

"... and that's how it all ended. Lisanna must be going through a lot right now..." Natsu had been listening to what had happened while he had been unconscious with his eyes closed, absorbing it all it. He opened his eyes to reveal a serious expression and he hugged her once again while whispering,  
"Sorry." He didn't know if it was enough, but he felt like nothing would ever be enough. After all, he felt like he was the one to blame for all that had happened. He had been the one fawning over Lisanna in the past, triggering Alva to think that they could be together and him being the cause of their deaths. _It's all my fault._

* * *

**Fairy Tail 13:15**

Loke sat in the cafeteria while girls flocked around him, trying to catch his attention. All he could hear was blurred sound and all he saw were people blurred into monsters. He decided that he didn't want to stay there anymore, as it felt like they were trying to suffocate him. So he left, hoping to get away from the noise. But he didn't even want to stay in the school, as that was the last place that he had seen her..

So he left there, heading for the first pub(or bar **for all you Americans out there ;)**) he saw. As soon as he entered, someone pestered him about identification, and he gave them his fake ID for situations like this. When he sat down at a stool to order a drink, he was surprised to see a familiar face.  
"Gildarts?" he asked, perplexed.  
"What are you doing here at this time? Aren't you supposed to be in school?"  
"Yeah.. But it was too noisy there.. Why is the pub open at this time anyway?"  
"Why are you asking, if you came in here to drink?" he said while laughing loudly.  
"Fine. Just give me a beer.."  
"Hold on. Why are you drinking? Is it to forget?" Gildarts asked, worried for him. Loke looked away and said,  
"No reason. Just give me my drink." His voice was stoic and cold. Gildarts sighed and said,  
"Of course, you are heartbroken. Let me tell you this as an expert, there is no point in drinking the pain away. Forgetting is the best solution. After all, I was a player like you in my day, always having flings here and there. Then, a woman came to my doorstep and said 'Here's your daughter' and I panicked, because I didn't think that I would actually have any children. But now I cherish her with my whole heart, even if I can't love her mother. If the love is really worth it, then don't you ever give it up."  
"Thanks for the advice, old man. Can I have my drink now?" Gildarts flinched at being called old, offended by Loke and knowing that his precious advice would not get through him until his pain was gone. So he sighed and made a drink for him, hoping that he wouldn't get too drunk that he would do something stupid and everyone would blame him, sending him to jail. After all, he was going to be a grandparent soon. As soon as that thought came, he broke out into a huge smile. Sure, he was too young to be a grandpa, but he would be the best teacher for that child and he would protect them like he couldn't do when he hadn't met Cana yet.

But Gildarts' hope of Loke not drinking too much was quickly vanquished as he asked for drink after drink, shot after shot. He didn't stop until he was asked by Gildarts to leave, because he seemed too drunk to even walk. A woman who was slightly older than him approached him and offered to carry him home, and he accepted in his drunk state of mind, knowing that he didn't even have the strength to walk. He knew that she was shady, and she may even do something indecent of him, but there was nothing he could do about it and he didn't care. As she carried him to her expensive looking BMW, he thought of how simple he and Aries had been when they had been younger.

_"Aries, look! I found something for you," beamed young Leo.__  
__"What is it Leo?" she giggled, happy to see him. They had been playing in Karen's garden, as it had never been in use. Even if it had never been in use, it was still a beautiful garden with several plants and beautiful flowers, as well as small, friendly wildlife. It had been lucky for them that they had sneaked out to the garden, which was hidden from sight. It was midnight, and the moon was high in the starry sky, and it felt like the whole sky was watching over the two curious children._  
_"This," he said shyly before showing the hidden rose he had taken for her. She stared at it in awe, as roses were her favourite flower. She smiled at him and hugged him, showing her gratitude. However, by doing that, she had accidentally squished the flower, and she was about to cry when Leo quickly said,_  
_"We can find way more flowers and when we do, we can even make a flower crown for you, because you are a little princess." Aries stopped crying and it turned to infrequent sniffling before she nodded at him and smiled at him. She ran around the garden, finding as many flowers as she could and made a flower crown for him, while he made a flower crown for her._  
_"Wear this Leo! Wear it!" she said, proud of herself for the masterpiece she had made. And hers was indeed really good, while Leo's one was absolutely rubbish. But he still thought it looked pretty good **(it really didn't -.-) **. He placed his flower crown on her head and said, "There, for the beautiful princess.." the moonlight directly shining on her, making her look ethereal. But her expression was sad, and he asked her what was wrong._  
_"You won't wear my crown. I made it with all my heart and I want you to be the prince next to me.."_  
_"But I can't. I'm not worthy enough to be a prince."_  
_"Who said? I just told you that you are my prince, so obey!" She said as she forcefully placed her beautiful flower crown on his head, crowning him prince. She smiled and he sighed contently._  
_"Fine, I'll be your prince. But on one condition."_  
_"Sure, what is it?" she asked, unknowing of what he was about to do._  
_"You are not allowed to be anyone else's. Your body is mine," he whispered in her ear before he kissed her sweetly on the lips, before running away. Aries held her lips with her hand, and she held them because they were still burning from what had happened. In fact, every part of her body was burning her._

_But who knew that the two children wouldn't be able to keep their promise?_

_Aries' broken promise has already been explained, but not Leo's. After changing his personality to be 'Loke', he had used his body to please several women by making them fall for him and then using them to gain a home and food. In return, he did whatever they wanted him to do. The arrangement was as simple as that, and if they ever stepped out of line, he would run away and move to next person. It was an easy life and he had wanted to survive for Aries, even though it would mean breaking his promise. He had erased his memories while being with all those people, because keeping them would mean feeling guilt. Without those memories, he could be 'Loke', the infamous playboy. But it didn't take long before his memories reappeared again, and he would have to run away from the person he was with and try to erase them again._

* * *

**Juvia's House 19:53**

Lyon stood outside Juvia's house, wandering if what he was about to do was the best thing. After all, he had broken her heart, but she had also broken his heart. Was it really best to jinx something that had happened before but had been a failure? And what if he suddenly got feelings for Cana again, Juvia would just be the rebound, just like he was to her.. He kicked the wall in frustration, before realising that it wasn't his house and that he could be sued if her parents were there. So he decided to give up and walk away. But then he remembered her face when he had seen her last, and it had been so sad and broken. She hadn't even appeared at school once after that, and he knew that it was his fault. So he walked back to the door and quickly rang the doorbell, hoping that he wouldn't back out of it again. But nobody answered.

Shoulders slumped, he was going do a walk of shame home when he thought he heard humming from the garden. Inspired, he ran until he found a part of the house that could be the garden and jumped over the fence. When he landed, he finally saw her. For some reason, a thunder clap was heard in the distance and then rain plummeted down. Even with the rain, Lyon swore that seconds before, she had been crying on the swing. He walked closer to her, strangely composed as he just acted instead of thinking rationally.

He pushed her swing, as there was only one. Juvia quickly turned her head to see the White haired boy behind her. She turned to look forward again, a blush on her face. She hadn't expected to see him as they had left off with a really sad parting. After all, she hadn't even had the courage to go to school because she had been afraid of seeing him. And now he was here in the flesh, looking way too attractive. He had worn a black buttoned shirt, leaving the top three buttons open. And his expression showed that he was there to only talk to her, and it made her scared what he would say. After all, she didn't want to be rejected again.

"Tell me exactly what you told me the other day.."  
"Juvia doesn't want to get her heart broken.." she said, her heart stopping at his words. She didn't want to feel like she had felt on that day- unwanted and helpless. But her resolve crumbled when she heard him say,  
"Please," softly. Juvia prepared herself for what she was about to do. She breathed in and said the words that she had cursed ever since she had said them,  
"Lyon... How can we be friends if you are so kind to me?.. Don't you know that I just keep on falling more and more in love with you?.." Her tone had changed from the last time, as she wasn't angry but instead scared, when before she had been fearless. She had also noticed that she had stopped referring to herself in third person after all those days yet now her bad habit had started again.

Lyon stepped in front of Juvia and held the swing from both sides still, saying, "Well I fell in love with you from the first time I saw you. I knew you liked someone else, but I stuck by you. And then I left, and you fell for me too. Some say that you have to fall before you can get back up, and we had to fall in love before we could finally realise our feelings for each other. And I still love you, and nothing will change that. I'm sorry that I said nothing, but I didn't think you would have the same feelings as me. And now I know that the feelings are mutual, would you like to be with me Juvia Lockser?"

Juvia used both hands to cover her nose and mouth, tears again forming at her eyes but for very different reasons. He actually wanted to be with her! And he really hadn't rejected her that day.. When Juvia realised that she had been silent for a bit too long, as Lyon started to look even more uneasy, she said, "Yes!" and hugged him. It was a hug that told him all that needed to be said- her emotions. She was happy, grateful, and most of all, she loved him.  
He also felt those exact emotions.

Lyon thought of the girl from his childhood with Blue hair who had cried alone in the rain and he also saw the beautiful girl in front of him melding together to form the same person. And indeed, they were the same person **(chapter 15 and chapter 40)**, perfectly identical and breathtaking. They both smiled, content; they were finally happy...

Sayla, having been woken up by a doorbell, had lazily walked downstairs to see a couple in each other's arms. At the sight of the two teenagers, Sayla sluggishly tried to return back to her room to sleep when she heard a familiar shout. "Sayla, wait!" She stopped dead in her tracks, hearing the footsteps of the running Bluenette. Juvia told her the good news, and Sayla stayed expressionless as usual, but she did write, "I'm happy for you," which was all Juvia had needed to be even happier. Lyon had previously told her a moment ago that he had urgent business to go to, so she decided to spend time with Sayla.

"Sayla, did you see?!" Juvia exclaimed.  
"I have perfect eyesight, thank you very much," she wrote, an annoyed look on her face.  
"I don't mean it that way! I have a boyfriend, and it's the man I actually love! Can't you see the sky clearing into a beautiful rainbow, happy for me?"  
"Not every single thing is about you, and since when did you speak in first person?" she wrote, curious; her face blank.  
"Oh... I guess whenever I'm around him, I can speak in first person. And since now I'm his girlfriend, I'll probably never speak in third person again! How the world is filled with vibrant colours.. sigh.."  
"Good for you. Good night," she wrote coldly before turning around to go back to sleep.  
"Sayla, wait!"  
"What?"  
"Let's celebrate!" Sayla glared at her for over a minute before she started walking again, but Juvia wasn't about to give up. "We can go to the grocery store and buy some food. Do you want to help me cook something delicious?" Juvia asked enthusiastically.  
"No." she wrote as soon as Juvia had dared ask her. Juvia pouted childishly and said,  
"That's too harsh.. But since you'll be eating the food, you can choose the menu!" So Sayla was dragged to the grocery store, were she pointed at ingredients she wanted to eat and Juvia would take them, thinking of ways to make a delicious dinner. It was hard to get Sayla to eat together with her; it didn't help that she tried to ignore Juvia. But she was determined to make her a close friend, and Juvia wasn't prone to giving up easily **(as shown by the way she pursued Gray throughout FT anime/manga)**.

After Juvia had made the five course dinner, she placed it on the table and Sayla began munching silently.  
"Sayla, this is a party! Stop making Juvia want to cry!"  
"I thought that you stopped speaking in third person?" Sayla wrote, confused.  
"When I feel strong emotions, I sometimes go back to speaking that way. Like how you are making me angry right now. Can't you try to have a conversation with me?"  
"But I don't care about you or your life. I just want a place to stay," she wrote coldly. Juvia stared at her with a poker face, which made Sayla very nervous. Usually, she was always expressing her emotions and being bubbly, sad, tired, happy, but never just emotionless. Sayla opened her mouth to say something, even though she knew that no words would come out. Maybe this time, she was actually going to get kicked out of the house. Juvia had only ever been patient to Sayla because she didn't want to hurt the girl who would always be mute. But maybe Sayla had over-passed the boundaries. After all, she had been nothing but an annoying roommate...

Juvia walked slowly to the room next door and brought out a couple of CDs in hand, as well as a large grin on her face. "I said this was going to be a party, so we need music and party games! All my friends are going through things right now, so I know celebrating with them would me selfish of me. I can keep it a secret until they can find their happiness.." Sayla saw a different person in her that day. She saw someone who could be truly selfless and would swap their pride to help others. Sayla stood up and plopped a party hat on Juvia's head and wrote, "Congratulations," which was all that Juvia needed to smile even more and start the two person party.  
It was one of the longest ever conversations that Sayla had written.

* * *

**Cana's House 15:47**

Cana and Hibiki were preparing for their dream honeymoon as they wanted to be just them two alone. The newlywed couple had planned the honeymoon weeks in advance, thinking that that was the best part of them getting married. After the baby came, they knew that they would probably argue a lot more than usual and their sex life would probably be nonexistent. So they knew they had to conserve as many great memories as they could so that they could always refer to those times when they got into an argument. Cana sat at a desk writing thank you letters to all the people who had bought them furniture or things for their house together, or even just money. It was tedious, but Hibiki was worried about her because she had had morning sickness, so he thought that she was too weak to pack. And she had a sickly green on her cheeks, as if at any moment she would vomit. She knew that it was useless to be so worried about nothing, but she knew that she had to check something.

"Darling, could you get me my tarot cards?" she asked sweetly. Hibiki stared at her for a few minutes before chuckling to himself.  
"What?" she asked, very offended.  
"You know how I feel about your stupid tarot cards.."  
"They aren't stupid! And you know they work!"  
"Sweetie, they are so vague that it could mean anything. You know I don't believe in the supernatural."  
"So how do you explain Gray being able to hear his dead mother in his dreams?" she whispered. She knew about this because the cards had told her about his previous nightmares.  
"What?" he asked, not sure what she had said.  
"Just give me my cards hubby, or I'll use them to smack you in the face instead of their intended purpose."  
"Aye aye captain," he sighed before taking the pack of cards and throwing them, which she caught. "Hibiki! Don't throw my cards, don't you know how precious they are to me?!"  
"They can't be that expensive.. I'm sorry Cana," he said before putting an arm around her and kissing her cheek, which earned him an elbow on his stomach.  
"Ow! Okay, I get it, you're angry with me. But I know that in less than ten minutes you'll forgive me again!" he said with a smirk before walking out of the room to take more clothes they needed to pack. Hibiki knew that there was something bothering her, and she usually didn't like talking about it with him. He would just have to leave her alone to think. For some reason, it felt like she didn't want to leave for their honeymoon.. _They were from my mother who suddenly disappeared out of nowhere.. _she thought, knowing that she would have to tell him one day. Even though they had dated for many years, they still didn't know many important things about each other, which was something that she intended to fix.

She shuffled the cards expertly, her days as a poker dealer coming in very handy- the money had been very good too. Cana wasn't usually a serious person, so she wanted to use her cards as a joke to check on some couples in her friendship circles. The first couple that came to mind were Gray and Erza, so she shuffled with the pair in mind, a small smile on her lips. She placed five cards from the bottom and five cards from the top of the shuffled deck face down. She then shuffled the deck again and spread them out, picking five more for a total of fifteen cards on the desk face down. She only had to pick five cards, but she knew that all the cards would have part in Grayza's fate. She turned them one by one, expecting the best cards on the deck, only for her face to grow darker and sombre. Even though they were finally dating, all the cards were the worst in the deck, not even one good card. She knew that her cards would mostly be the present, but what if it affected the future too?

Hibiki came back before seeing his wife's face. He asked her, "What's wrong?" and she replied with a shaky voice,  
"I-I-I w-w-wanted to check E-Erza and G-Gray's fate to see as a j-jo-joke how their relationship would go, and there are only b-bad cards.."Hibiki's worried face darkened, and he stayed silent. After a few minutes, he took on his composted air and said,  
"You know that I don't believe in all that. Just leave the cards, you know they are a bad influence. It's your hobby, so of course you may get a bit caught up in it, but I'm telling you this; they aren't real predictions." He kissed her forehead and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry too much about it." Cana resigned and kissed him back, not wanting to have another argument with him. She knew it would only make him angry and she didn't want him to feel that way because she loved him too much to see him suffer. She also resigned because she hoped that the cards were wrong.

But her cards have never been wrong...

* * *

**Redfox Mansion- Private Hospital Ward (refer to chapter 40)**

They were all around Gajeel's mother's bed (except for the step-father), waiting for her to speak. Throughout the whole waiting time, Gajeel had glared at the man who hadn't been there for him all those years after he had been born. Only bitter thoughts could be formulated about him, and Levi held his hand to try to calm him down, knowing that at any moment he could swing a punch. When she finally woke up, she stared at the man who had been her husband, a small, weak smile on her face as she looked at how much he had changed from the years they had known each other before he left.

"Gajeel, don't glare at your father.. You don't even know half the story," she ordered, her voice stern. She never once ordered anything form Gajeel, so all he could do was look at the floor in shame.  
"Raise your head, my boy. You know that I could never not be proud of you... This is your father and also the man who I love. You may have thought that he abandoned us, but that's a really stupid misconception. He has always been there for you- you've just never seen him. After he left to become a painter, he sent letters everyday and he even stayed close by to protect you. Remember all those times you were in danger and somehow you got out of it alive? Well, that was your father protecting you, like a father should. He has loved you all this time, and you have spent all your time aimlessly hating him, when he has always been there for you." Gajeel's eyes bulged at the last remark, remembering something that he had forgotten. Something from a long time ago..

_Gajeel was five years old and he couldn't get used to his new school. All the little children looked at him differently and no one wanted to be in a group with him. He didn't care about them, but he was always lonely. He didn't get why he was the social outcast. Yes, he had piercings all over his body, but it was a rite of passage for all the men in his family. So as he sat alone in the playground playing with the sand, he noticed three suited men looking at him. He ignored them, not caring for the suspicious looking guys as he was totally immersed in his sand drawings. He didn't notice when they approached him cautiously, their shadows being the only indicator that they were after him as they covered him. He turned around in defiance to tell them to go away, but he was only a child and they gagged him and punched him in the gut to make him unresponsive. The kidnappers from the rival gang then placed him roughly in a large bag and started walking to their get-away car. But Gajeel had been in training to be able to fight off others and gain more endurance. So the blow to the gut only made him unresponsive for around a minute or so. He knew that he couldn't get out of the bag, so he acted as if he was still unconscious. He didn't know how long he could fool them, and he didn't have a plan. If he had to, he would fight to defend himself. His combat training had only gone so far, and they were at least twice his size. He didn't like to, but he would have to play dirty and use his environment, or even just run away. As he formulated a plan, he felt himself being dropped suddenly on the ground, making him break his arm at the point of impact. He seethed silently in pain, wondering what was happening. He could hear noises from outside the bag that he couldn't escape, and it seemed that the perpetrators had been taken by surprise, seeing as they had dropped him on concrete instead of in the trunk of a car or wherever they were going to put him. It seemed like the fight would go on forever with the mysterious foe until...__  
__All was silent. Gajeel couldn't even hear the sound of breathing. Could the person have killed them? He tried to escape from the bag, seeing it as an opportunity to escape before the silent person also killed him. Even if they had saved him, he couldn't trust every single stranger he came into contact with. But he couldn't get out of it, no matter how much he struggled. He felt a presence above him and he started to shiver. He felt someone removing the zip enough to make him get out of the bag, but not enough to see the person's face. Gajeel quickly tried to get out of the bag to see the person who had saved him, as he could hear their footsteps getting further away. But by the time he was out of the bag, the person who had saved him had vanished. He didn't even get to see their face... He had never told anyone, not even his own mother as he knew that she would needlessly worry about him, thinking that he had stalkers or more people were trying to hurt him. He had vowed to himself on that day that he would practice as hard as he could to become the strongest he could possibly be so that person who was his new hero wouldn't have to protect him.. But even after that vow, he had been saved several other times during his years of growth by that same person, never even getting a glimpse of their shadow._

And now he realised that that person was the man next to his mother.

_"C'mon, show him!"_ she prompted her ex-husband, urging him on. He shook his head shyly, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. She gave him an encouraging smile and repeated her message with her eyes, hoping that he would listen to her. He sighed and took out what he had been hiding in his massive square bag. In the bag were family portraits that never existed, but were somehow in front of him... They weren't pictures, but actual paintings on one canvas of all the family photos that Gajeel had taken, but his father was also in them. _My Birthday... Me and Juvia playing together... The first war I was going to lead to beat that rival gang... _And so many more, as well as the last one which showed him, his mother and his father had drawn Levi and himself in it. _He even knows about Levi.._

Gajeel, overwhelmed with emotion, left the room to get some air. He couldn't believe that he had been so wrong about the man who he had hated. Yes, his father had not been there physically, but he had always wanted to be part of the family, and it showed in the paintings. His father actually cared for him... Gajeel hadn't even asked his mother why he had been so against staying in the family, because he knew there was a bigger reason than just not getting to do a hobby as a profession. The void in his heart filled with hatred was finally filled with something else. _Pride?.. Hope?.. Happiness? _He felt a slow smile creeping to his lips, glad that he could finally experience the long awaited day without feelings of hatred.

With his peripheral vision, he could see his step-father going inside his mother's room looking very suspicious. He spotted that he was hiding something under his heavy robes and he looked closer to see.. _A katana!_ Gajeel rushed to the room only to see that his father was stepping on the face of the man who had tried to kill the most precious people in the world to him. His father also had the same katana his step father had been hiding under his robes in his hand, pointed at his mother's husband, inches from his chest. His father then went on to throwing the katana out of sight and saying, "Never try to hurt my family again, or you will pay!" The guards took him away and his father sat down, shaking his head in light shock.

"I leave for a few years and you marry that douche? You really must have gone crazy after I left you!" he chuckled loudly.  
"Oh shush, you know I had no choice in the matter! And the clan wanted to know if we could really trust him, and he was passing until you came back, you fool! And what do you have to say about taking so long in your mission?" His mother smiled at her husband.  
"Wait, what do you mean by mission?" Gajeel asked, interrupting his parents.  
"You didn't tell him dear?" he looked incredulously at his ex-wife.  
"Of course I didn't tell him! You said to tell no one, or have I gone delusional?" she asked him with an accusing tone.  
"Sorry, sorry wifey. I did tell you to keep it a secret, didn't I?" he said while ruffling his hair, only getting an angry pout from his ex _(?)_wife.  
"Wait, are you still married?" asked Levi curiously.  
"Oh.. Yeah about that.." his mother started.  
"We never actually got divorced. We've always been married and I wasn't going to let another guy take her from me, so they organised an arranged marriage for her, but all the certificates were fake, so she's still legally married to me. I didn't want to leave her, but I had to.. It was a very dangerous time for me and some of my friends from other clans. There was an organisation which recrited clan leaders and made them betray their clan. After the outbreak of traitors, leaders had been trying to go with that organisation to aid them, or even kill other leaders and their families. And they suspected me, so all I could do was run to protect you, as well as join that organisation to break them from the inside. Once that was done, I knew I could return to my family and know that they would have been safe. The only thing that could have blown my cover were the letters I sent your mother once a year, as it was an ongoing mission. I couldn't receive letters from her as I changed location every few days, but I never forgot about you, and I always tried to protect you whenever I could..."

Silence lingered and Gajeel's father stood up and spread his arms, as if allowing Gajeel to hug him. And the two men hugged solemnly.

* * *

**Unknown Location- Inside Erza's Car 17:25**

Erza felt bad about her last argument with Gray, knowing that what he said was only because he was supporting her. After all, he had given her the opportunity and now she was living her dream thanks to him. She wasn't a quitter and Gray knew that extremely well, that's why he had told her those words. They may have seemed harsh in that moment, but now they made perfect sense to her. And she had never thought that Gray felt inferior to her. If anything, she felt inferior to him! Always self-assured, confident, smart, living life as much as he could even if he was going through hardships. She owed so much to him- all the times she had broken down in front of him and he had never judged her, only comforting her... She knew she couldn't live without him, no matter how fantastical it all sounded. Without him, she wouldn't be able to see the world with him by her side. The only reason she was still standing was because she was holding on to the thread that led her to Gray, but that thread was getting thinner and thinner, which made Erza scared...

She heard a familiar noise and stopped her car right away in a parking space, listening to the tune that was 'Good to You', which Gray had sang for her that day when they had gotten out of prison. After she had gotten that voice recording from Cana, she had put it as her ring tone for whenever Gray called her. She picked it up right away to hear a cold, stoic voice with a curt tone, "We need to talk. Meet me where we first met," before hanging up. He hadn't even allowed her to apologise to him yet.. And when he spoke to her, it was always in a loud, bubbly voice not this quiet, unfamiliar person. Erza didn't think Gray held grudges for long, but she knew that she had to fix things fast. At full speed, she drove to the place they first met..  
_Guess I'm going to Raven street.._

Gray was sitting at the bench in front of the same shop they had met, with the same _vulgar pose _she remembered him in and even the same clothes. Erza was just wearing her glasses and a off the shoulder pink top and grey tracksuit bottoms. She had started to smile at him but when their eyes met, his were cold, almost angry. It was like the first time they met, but in reverse. This time, he was the angry one and she was the one who had been smiling, only to be quickly replaced by a frown. Not wanting to over think the situation, she sat down next to him, but he moved away. She had wanted to hold his always cold hands, but he had made sure that there was no way of doing that. Her heart beat sped up, but she tried to ignore it yet again. _I must not panic.. I can't panic.._

"Erza.." he started, but was interrupted by the Scarlet haired girl.  
"Don't call me Erza.. Call me Scarlet like you used to.. Or at least say it like you're happy, not this.. If it's about what I said, I'm not quitting, alright? I promise I won't whine anymore, so please don't leave me.. I know I've only been a bother to you, but I promise that I will stop acting so weak.. I know I'm being selfish, but I love you and I need you with me. So please don't leave me..."  
"Erza. Stop."

She gasped and then kept quiet, gripping onto the bench to stop herself from crying. She closed her eyes tight, hoping that maybe she was just dreaming... But she knew that she wasn't and she could hear Gray speaking. She didn't want to hear him, so she put her hands to her ears to cancel out the noise, so she wouldn't have to listen to what he was saying. If she didn't listen, maybe she could fix things and try to talk to him, instead of allowing him to have all the power on her. After all, wasn't she the Titania? Intimidating, fierce, the one who makes even grown men cry. So why was she the one on the brink of tears? Why couldn't he _just shut up?_

Gray took hold of Erza's hands that covered her ears, as he knew that she wouldn't listen to him. _This isn't fucking easy for me either! _he screamed in his thoughts, knowing that he had absolutely no other option. After he had taken her hands off her ears, he held them tightly so that she wouldn't try to cover them again. But she insisted on keeping her eyes closed.  
"Listen Erza. I'm sorry for getting in the way of your career and your daily life. After you finished shooting your first album, you just have no more time for me, and that's fine but I don't want to drag you down, so I think we should break up.. Goodbye forever Erza," he said before kissing her on the cheek. The next moment, Erza had opened her eyes and he wasn't there anymore... The kiss on her cheek has been light, like a butterfly had landed on it instead of his cold lips. She had wanted him to be there after she had opened her eyes, as if what had happened had just been a really bad dream.. And now she was alone. Her throat had been clogged up with emotion, making her unable to talk to him, to contradict him no matter how many times she had wanted to.. Her unspoken thoughts lingered in the air like the clouds which hanged above her.

_You've never gotten in the way of my career, you made it!... I'm sorry for not being there for you, I should have spent more time with you and made more free time for you.. No, we don't have to break up..._

* * *

**15:54**

Erza had been in a meeting for a couple of hours and she hadn't been feeling well. She knew that if she stayed any longer, she would only grow more restless. Yes, it was an important career meeting, but she didn't want to make a scene. So she left, leaving people wondering why she was leaving so early (even though the meeting had ran on for more than five hours). Erza decided to walk instead of using the car, knowing that she was in disguise so no one would know who she was. She wore a black wig and wore dark sunglasses to make it even less obvious to others about who she was. She didn't have anywhere important to go, only knowing that she had to follow her instincts.

As she kept on walking, she thought she had seen Ultear walking on the street with a guy, but she hadn't looked too closely at them and they were standing in the shade, so her glasses made it even harder to see the two people. For some reason, she had a bad feeling about the two people, but she chose to walk on, knowing that her instincts were leading her somewhere. She stopped when she finally felt normal again, only to see that she was in a completely unfamiliar street. She saw a girl being hassled by three guys who looked like thugs. She knew she had to help and immediately rushed to help her by kicking and punching them. The girl had looked really scared but when Erza had started fighting with them, she had helped her out, showing that she actually was stronger than she had previously seemed.

"Thanks Erza!" said the girl who had been attacked. Erza immediately turned to her, confused. _How does she know who I am? _After all, her wig was still intact and her sun glasses were still on her face.  
"Oh, you didn't think I knew? Sorry! But don't worry, I won't tell anyone," she said with a shy smile.  
"Excuse me, but who are you?" Erza asked curiously.  
"My name is Roxanne, but I would be honoured if you called me Roxy," she said hesitantly. **(Yes, I'm back people :p!)****  
**"Why didn't you fight them, if you knew you could?" Erza questioned.  
"Well.. I wasn't bothered to try. They just wanted to steal my bag or something, and I wouldn't have cared if they had taken it. But when I saw you, I knew I had to help! And if you're wondering how I know, I remember the faces of everyone I meet, so even if they are wearing some random wig, I can instantly spot who they are. After all, I am also a fairy**(student of fairy tail, not some random fairy xD)**... So why are you here anyway?"

Erza stood silent for a few minutes, not knowing what other explanation she could give her that didn't sound totally insane. "Erm.. I guess I just wanted to walk and I ended up here... What are you doing here anyway?" she said, trying to swiftly change the subject, "And what's the backpack for, Roxy?" Erza asked, seeing that Roxy had a backpack that seemed to contain a package of some sort, she insinuated by looking at the shape.  
"Oh, this old thing? It's just something I need to deliver to someone.."  
"But I thought that you said you didn't mind if those thugs took it?"  
"I did, didn't I?" she laughed to herself, her head bowed down. "I guess it doesn't really hold that much significance. I could deliver it or I can choose not to, I guess it's just fate.." They awkwardly stood in silence before Roxy seemed to light up and she spoke quickly to Erza,

"You know what? This package was actually specifically for you! Take it, and I hope it helps.." She left it on the floor and ran away, almost like a ghost. Erza was curious what the mysterious package contained, so she opened the backpack to see several things. She was shocked to see that there was a ring with her initials inside of it. There was a piece of paper attached to it that read, _For when I marry her. _Erza gasped, confused by what she was holding. Why was something so precious with her? She felt like maybe she shouldn't have been touching the contents, but if it was for her, why shouldn't she?

She saw a picture of a Raven haired boy with a White haired boy playing at the beach making a huge sandcastles, huge smiles on their slightly chubby faces. Erza realised that it was Gray and Lyon as little children. Then, she noticed that there was a blue book. She opened it to see that the pages were all blank, the only thing showing it had ever been used were all the teared pages. And the book was large, so at least a hundred pages in words had been torn away. Why would that girl give her all this? She finally found a letter, addressed to her. She read it out loud, hoping to make sense of what was in the backpack.

"You have found the backpack. In this backpack, there are several clues of what may come to be, what may never happen, and what has already come to pass. All I can tell you is that I'm a messenger, and this package was intended for Gray Fullbuster, but I knew that it wasn't just a coincidence meeting you. I had the power to show you more clues, and I chose to use it. You may find it all strange, but the mystery will be solved soon enough. Just stay strong. That's all I ask for you.  
This package was given to me by Ultear Milkovich.

Roxanne."

What did it all mean? _And why the hell does Ultear have all these things that belong to Gray and his family? How close were they? _Erza still felt so confused, as she still didn't know half the story... Barely anyone knew..

She felt like it wasn't her backpack to keep, so she sent it by post to Gray, in hope that he would receive it. Just as she was about to walk back to where she had once been, she fainted in the middle of nowhere, her body unresponsive. The only thing she could do was drown in her conscious mind, drifting with all her worries and pains, screaming internally for help.. But no help came, and her eyes closed.

**And I'm done ;D Hope you enjoy it and sorry for waiting so long to upload it x3 Now my sister can Beta it because she hasn't done it for at least ten consecutive chapters, making me do it at 1 AM after I finish -.-... And I know, the story is getting sadder, but (for now) it will only get more depressing, so please bring tissues if you are prone to crying. And make sure to tell your feelings to someone who really cares, because if you aren't feeling happy and you only depend on yourself, you'll suffer and people will judge you and not even consider what you're going through, so tell someone and get comforted, because there will always be someone who listens :3 (Like me, if you want :D) (\\*^-^*)/ SIDEWAYS HUGS! XXXXX**

**~Roxanne**


	48. Too Close

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Heyo ;p I'm really sorry that I didn't call you my lovely royal chibis last chapter :( I only realised it when I published it, so it was too late to change it xD Anyways, how have you been? :D If you've started school/ about to start it, good luck x3! And if you're free from education, lucky you! Can you believe it's already been 48 chapters of this? :o I can't either, but at least I'm almost done xD Can anyone guess the number of the final chapter yet? ;p That's irrelevant now, as this chapter is probably going to make the easily tearful people cry :p And this is a very late chapter to Grayza week (I missed it again this year! x3) Thank you Stark for reminding me :D! And again, sorry for uploading it so late x3 I've been writing on and off for almost four weeks of just this chapter...**

**Sukaretto20: I'm sorry I'm making you so sad :( But I guess I've never known that I'm an angsty writer until now xD.. And I agree to that :p In the coming chapters you may or may not hate her more, depending on how much of a pacifist you are ;p! And I'm sorry for such a late update, but I am an A class procrastinator x3..**

**Enjoy ;). And if you have actually reached this far into the story, thank you for deciding to spend your time reading it, even though you could be doing so many other things :3 \\(*^-^*)/**

**Chapter XLVIII: Too Close to the Future**

**Erza's Mansion - Next Day 13:00**

Erza had woken up after a couple of hours, and she had walked as if everything was normal, even though she knew it wasn't. She had gone straight to bed, her thoughts only focused on Ultear and everything surrounding her. How come their lives were always intertwined, clashing like two desperate warriors fighting to the death? Only one would win, and Erza wasn't sure how much more she could fight..  
She knew something had to be done, and the only way to ensure that she could be at peace was to do what everyone had told her not to do, but she had finally stopped listening to what everyone was telling her to do and doing what she had wanted to do for a very long time.

After a long, ten hour sleep free from her thoughts, Erza woke up feeling rejuvenated and determined. She hadn't felt like that in a long time. She quickly got dressed, wearing her contact lenses so she could do something drastic for one last time. She applied the makeup carefully and neatly, the mascara being her tiny sword that was never hesitant with its movements. The precision was almost unearthly, the perfection of it making her face shine like the moon's reflection. She chose to dress one last time in something that she loved, a dress that she had left hanging, a little shrine around it, as if it was the most precious thing in the world. And to her, it really was...

It was the dress that Gray had given her for her birthday** (refer to chapter 20) [I know I said it was the 8th dress, but I know that the placements change xD So, you can either imagine it, choose which one is your favourite dress out of the ones there and imagine it on Erza, or search Taffeta Shining Bodice Dark Red Beading Puffy Gowns and it will probably show the one I'm talking about on the first image, but if not, again you can choose your favourite :D) **when he had cornered her in the bathroom, when her only piece of clothing had been a towel. How carefree they had been then, and it had only been a few months ago.. It only takes a few months for something to deteriorate drastically. Erza also put on black, elegant wrist long gloves to go with her new addition, a big bow to tie her hair up. Erza looked at the mirror and was very pleased with the way it looked, as it was probably going to be the last thing that Gray would ever see her wear. She slapped her cheeks lightly with both hands at once, encouraging herself to try her hardest to not faint. Even as she said it, she felt weak and her hands were trembling uncontrollably.

She decided to call Sting, knowing that he would always support her decisions, even if he didn't agree with them.  
"Erza! What's do I owe the pleasure of getting a call from you?"  
"Oh shut up Sting, I'm sorry for ignoring you these days. I need a favour.."  
"Wow, so as soon you apologise, you want something from me? No can do Erza Scarlet," he chuckled, his voice clearly jokey but at the same time hurt. Erza felt bad for what she had done to him, and she knew there was nothing she could do other than apologise.  
"Sting.. You know I am sorry. I didn't ignore you because of.. him. It's because Haru was spying on me through you, so I had to be very careful. He placed a tracking device as well as a listening device on you, so whatever I told you would go back to him, and you would also be in danger. I didn't want you to get hurt, and I selfishly hid it from you Sting. I know I don't have the right to ask for your forgiveness, but I always want to protect those who are close to me no matter what. It's my human nature. I don't even think I can change it, but if it will make you forgive me, I will do it. I would do anything.."

"So leave that guy and be my girlfriend," Sting said abruptly in a serious voice. All was silent as he waited for Erza to answer him. He expected to hear a sigh, or something that would signal rejection, but he heard nothing. Seeing that something was incredibly wrong with the situation at hand, he interrupted her train of thought by saying,  
"You know I was joking, right?!" and began laughing by himself. Soon enough, she also started giggling uncontrollably until they were holding their stomachs in pain.  
"Why would I ever want to date you? You're aggressive, loud and you get angry very easily. You deceive people with that smile of yours that makes you seem like an angel and you have inhuman strength. What I want is a kind, not easily frustrated woman who loves me and no one else," he finished, his voice melancholic.  
"I am all those things, aren't I? How did you even notice so quickly Sting?"  
"Well, some do like to call me the Stalker!" he laughed, leaving a light hearted mood.  
"Should I be worried?" she asked, a few snorts escaping from her.  
"Mmh.. Maybe?" he answered, making her laugh even more at how unsure he sounded. Sting then remembered that she had previously asked him for a favour, so he asked her what she wanted him to do. When she told him, he put up very little resistance, knowing that if she felt it was the right thing to do, then he would support her.

After the conversation ended, Erza beamed. She knew that she shouldn't have been so happy at that moment, but by doing this she hoped that her and Gray could get back together. Instead of driving, Erza decided on walking, as she knew that she felt fitter than the day before. Sure, she would catch a lot of attention, especially with her current attire, but the more people who followed her, the better. It would save her the trouble of having to repeat it ever again. She opened the large gates to her house one last time before walking towards her destination. Instead of mulling over the things that made her want to scream and cry in pain, she focused on the past when things were a lot happier. The bad memories sometimes clouded the good, but if the bad memories were repressed, then the good ones would show in a blink of an eye.

_"Mummy? What's this?" asked young Erza in front of the television, seeing two familiar figures on the screen. It was different than normal as her parents were goofing around and they seemed to be completely and madly in love. Erza also noticed her dad wearing a white suit with a black tie and her mother wearing a splendid white dress with something on top of her head.__  
__"It's our wedding day sweetie, a couple of months before you were born," she said with a soft smile on her face._  
_"And what's that on you head mummy?" she asked curiously while sucking her thumb.__  
__"It's a veil dear. It's what all brides wear when they get married. When you get married, you must invite mummy, okay?" she said while patting her daughters head.__  
__"Of course mummy! But... what about daddy?" her mother laughed at that.__  
__"Don't worry about him Erza, you don't have to invite that man. Or else, he'll kill your husband," she said, a smile still on her face, as if she found the thought of her husband murdering his son in law amusing. Erza's pupils went wide and her mouth was slightly open, fearing the thought of her father killing her future husband.__  
__"Of course, if you make your daddy the number one man in your life, he will probably never kill anyone out of jealousy,"__  
__"Then I'll make daddy number one!" and her mother burst out laughing at how determined she looked. Young Erza sat on the couch confused, wondering why her mother was acting so strangely.__  
__"Erza... I said exactly the same thing to my father, but then I fell in love with your stupid father and I knew he was more important to me than anyone else... Do you know what the difference is between 'love' and 'in love'?" asked Erza's mother. Erza only shook her head confused what her mother was trying to teach her. She continued by saying, "Well.. Let's put it this way.. I love both of my parents very much and I would do anything in the world for them, but I am in love with my idiot husband who makes me angry every single day; never washes up after himself; after a hard day of work, he never massages me; he always makes fun of me saying that I act like a man; he complains when I don't shave; he complains when I cook; he complains when he knows he has to cook but doesn't want to; he wastes his life on video games and he's frankly never jealous when I'm with another man; I almost always think that he loves you more than me, the one who married him..."__  
__"Mummy, are you sure that you love daddy? From what you said, it sounds like you hate him..."__  
__"And I do hate him! But I am also so in love with him, even after almost all these years that it drives me insane to think that I can't live without him, no matter how hard I try.."__  
__"Mummy.. I don't wanna fall in love if I have to suffer so much because of it.. It sounds like such a pain..."__  
__"It is a pain. It's a selfish pain that makes all of us want to crave it even more. Because even if you know that your husband does all those stupid things and more, you know he loves you because he would do anything to protect you. He would rather suffer and see you happy than you having to suffer, even if it hurts their feelings. Love makes people stupid like that... Did I ever tell you how your father and I got together?" she asked, as if snapping out from a long trance.__  
__"No, you never have mummy! Tell me! Tell me!" Her mother chuckled at her again.__  
__"Okay sweetie, listen carefully. Mummy will only repeat this story once, and you aren't allowed to ask me any questions after I tell you, okay?"__  
__"Eehhhh! Why mummy? Why!?"__  
__"Because it's something that I treasure even more than my wedding ring. It's like a secret between your father and I, no one else is allowed to know. Your father hasn't told anyone either, but I know that you will become more and more curious as you grow up, so it's only fair that you are allowed to hear the story. So, do you agree to the conditions?" Erza stayed silent, contemplating the pros and cons of her mother's offer. On one hand, she could finally hear the love story that brought her parents, the people that she loved most in the world, together. On the other hand, she could ask her father to tell her, as he loved to brag about how much of a romantic he was. But no matter how many times he had bragged about all the other romantic things he did, not once had he talked about how he had met her mother or how they had fallen in love with each other. She was desperate to know the story, but her father was the rouge card. He acted happy and overprotective when he was with Erza but even if it was just once, she had seen a serious side of him that she had never expected from her happy-go-lucky father. If she did ask him, the likelihood that he would tell her anything was minimal, and he may also add some strange conditions if he did accept to tell her...__  
__"If this makes your decision any easier Erza, your father will not tell you, no matter how many times you beg. He hasn't even told his parents or his closest sister, who is always overprotective of him. She knows some of the details, but she doesn't know everything that happened. Your father may seem always happy, but he is also a very serious man who would always sacrifice things to protect the things important to him. So, have you made your choice?"__  
__"... Please tell me."_

_"It was a strange day when I first saw your father. We had gone to the same high school and he had even been in the same year as me, but because our electives had been so different, and every class we had was far away from each other, we never met for over five years. When we finally met each other it was a rainy day, and I had overslept. It was the first day back at school and everyone was tense because it was time to study for the exams, but no one but a few people had studied (including me). At the time, I had bad eyesight just like you, and I wore these ugly glasses as well as keeping my hair tied up. I didn't really care about becoming more beautiful and I always told myself that until I reached University and maybe got a crush there, then I would try. But even if that did happen, I wasn't so confident to think that it would actually happen. I saw it as a beautiful fantasy, and that was why I was late... That stupid dream.. Anyway, I rushed to school, my uniform getting soaked as I tried to look at my wrist watch to check that I wasn't going to be late. If I recall, I only had around four minutes left, but it would take me at least five even if I ran to the school gate. I wasn't particularly fit at that time, so I had to count on the adrenaline of not ruining my perfect attendance to reach the school. When I passed the school gate, my whole face was red and I was sweating profusely. I felt gross and my hair was all messed up, and the rain had only gotten worse. When I checked my watch, I saw that it was time for school, but no one was there. I started to panic and think that I had come in too late, but then I remembered that I had forgotten that I had wanted to wake up earlier to try and exercise a bit before school, so that was why I set it an hour early. Cursing my memory, I walked around the school to try and find any rooms that weren't locked from the inside. When I spotted one after a few minutes of searching, I ran for it only to hear voices. I stopped abruptly and hid behind the wall so I could see what was going on. There was this sakura tree at this school and everyone believed that if you confessed to your crush there, your romance would bloom. I never believed in something so absurd, so seeing someone blindly following that legend had made me surprised. I slowed my breathing to hear the conversation, as I was the girl who loved anything to do with a good romance.. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you Erza! I'm actually an author, but I use a secret name to write my novels. After all, I can't let others find out just how intellectual I am, or I will make too many enemies in the modelling industry," she whispered with a wink. "So I thought it would be great material for my new novel, even if I hadn't even started most of them and I was only close to completing one of them... I listened carefully and the conversation went something like this..."_

**_19 Years Ago..._**

_"I.. I think I love you.. I know that I'm not yet fit to be yours, but I will try my hardest until I can be with you, so please accept my feelings!" At that time, Erza's father had Raven hair, and it flew as the wind swept it around. But somehow, he still managed to look desirable, with his stoic, cold look in his eyes and the way his posture made him seem as powerful as even the most accomplished business men. In front of him was a girl with medium, curly Green hair, staring at him with her big eyes. A few feet away, Erza's mother began taking note of what was happening, not knowing that that notebook would be the start of it all. He said something, but the girl in the distance couldn't hear either of them, as they had suddenly lowered their voices. Seeing this as an unmissable opportunity, she walked slowly to the tree, opposite the pair. If she stayed as still as possible, they wouldn't hear her. She was too curious to know what would happen next.__  
__"I'm sorry, but you know that I can't be with you.."__  
__"What do you mean!?" she said, tears spilling on her cheeks. Erza's mother was resisting the urge to kiss her teeth, as her tears had come way too quickly, and she knew when things were rehearsed.__  
__"Because I don't like you. I don't even know you. Please leave me alone and fall for some other rich, more gullible guy than me." As Erza's mother was about to smirk, she heard a loud "SMACK!" noise. She gasped quietly, realising that the girl had actually slapped him.__  
__"How dare you!? How fucking dare you!? When we were engaged, you said that you would stay with me forever and make me as comfortable as I needed to be. And now, only a few months later, you say that you want to break off the engagement! My family feels humiliated as they think that I did something that suddenly made you revoke our marriage. But you didn't even ask me for my opinion! You can't just leave now! The memory loss made you a bit funny in the head, so just come back to me and we can sort it out!" Erza's mother scribbled it all down, her excitement peaking its maximum level.__  
__"Huh?" he said with a callous voice, which made even Erza's mother stop writing. Just by his tone of voice, she guessed that on the other side of the tree, he was glaring at the girl in front of him. "What about my memory loss? Just because I don't remember everything, doesn't mean I suddenly became stupid. Do you know why I ended out 'relationship'?" he asked with an unforgiving voice. She gulped anxiously, not knowing what the Raven haired boy would do to her. Erza's mother heard a bit of movement (as if he was leaning forward) and a gulp (which was most likely from the girl) before he whispered, "There is someone who I like, who I also have to kill with my own hands.."__  
__The air suddenly got colder and Erza's mother froze, her voice stuck in her throat. She didn't know why, but her heart had skipped a beat at his words. When she heard a loud "THUD", she looked down in horror to see that when her whole body had been paralysed by his cruel words, she had dropped her sacred notebook. But she valued her life more than the notebook, so she ran away as fast as she could, hoping that they hadn't seen her. The Raven haired boy had seen a girl with long, dark Pink hair run away, not being able to see her face. He walked to the other side of the tree to see that she had dropped something. He picked up the notebook to find that it was titled "Story Ideas" with every possible scenario that could happen, some based on the people he knew from his year and others foreign to him. The one that particularly stood out to him was on the last page- the conversation between him and his ex fiancée. He smirked silently as he placed it in his bag, his annoying ex had already left.__  
__Erza's mother's heart was beating really quickly, and she didn't know how to control it. One thing she knew for certain was that she had definitely gotten her morning dose of exercise. She wanted to warn the girl who that strange guy was in love with to tell her to transfer school or even just go abroad as she would be in serious danger with that psycho... And why the hell did he want to murder the girl he was in love with? Was he an extreme sadist? Erza's mother went to the girl's bathroom to comb her hair and tie it back up, as well as taking the spare uniform out of her bag and changing into it. After all, she couldn't afford to not have backup in case anything happened. And in this way, it would make sure that she stayed away from that creepy guy, as it had stopped raining. There were only three people at the school at the time of that confession, and if she went to class soaked from head to toe, it would be pretty obvious who the third person was..._

**_"Mummy, could you get on with the story?" _**_Erza asked impatiently, knowing that her mother would drag on if she wasn't stopped.__  
__"Rude!" pouted her mother, getting in the groove of dictating another story. But she knew that even if Erza was a very intellectual child, she had a short attention span. More so as she had a doctor's appointment in a few hours to check up on her. She looked like any normal child, but her mother knew how much she was suffering inside.__  
__"Mummy, don't pout!" she smiled as she pinched her mother's cheeks by standing on the chair. "You said that if I pout, I'll become just like daddy when he doesn't get what he wants, and you hate that face of his the most! So please smile mummy, because you are prettiest when you smile!" Erza's mother gently grabbed her daughter and gave her a hug, feeling like the luckiest mother in the world.__  
__"Okay.. I guess I can make the long story short.. What happened was that your father was l-"__  
__"What are my two most precious girls in the world talking about?" said a cheerful, manly voice. Erza instantly knew whose voice it was and jumped off the couch to give a hug to her father. At that time, his hair was almost completely Silver with a few Raven streaks here and there.__  
__"Mummy was telling me a story! She was getting to the good part daddy before you suddenly interrupted us.."__  
__"What was the story about dear?" he said as he kissed his wife on the nose, which only made her blush and face away from him.__  
__"Nothing you need to know about.. And are you cooking today? I told you I'm too busy to do any housework, so you'll have to do it.." she whispered with authority.__  
__"Sigh.. Yes dear... Oh! Is that our wedding reception?" Erza's mother blushed so hard that a tomato couldn't even compare to her face.__  
__"S-s-s-so what if it is?! It's nothing im-im-portant!" Erza's father placed her next to him before he cupped Erza's mother's cheek and kissed her sweetly on the lips. After the kiss, they looked into each other's eyes for a few moments, a soft smile playing on his lips while she just looked in his eyes in surprise and embarrassment. Just as Erza's mother was about to say something sweet to him, he said,__  
__"You know what? I actually prefer you with your Pink hair!" which earned him a slap on his face as she stomped away. Before she left completely, she shouted quickly, "I LOVE YOU TOO!" Erza giggled, finding her parent's relationship too adorable. It was even a miracle that they were actually even married! Her father whispered, "I love you too.." before watching the television with his daughter, replaying the wedding and the wedding reception._

_Erza still didn't know the secret to their past..._

Erza had walked in peace and quiet, humming to herself happily as she remembered all her fond memories. When she opened her eyes, she saw that there was a crowd around her, following her. But they weren't talking, sensing that she had a tranquil air about her. She smiled at them and continued daydreaming, not wanting to repress any of her memories..

**_(Refer to the end of chapter 20) _**_"So, when did you get into music?" asked Gray.__  
__"When I was quite young... Maybe five or something.."__  
__"And why didn't you join a band or something, you are just... so talented at it!"__  
__Erza stayed silent for a few moments, contemplating what she wanted to say to Gray. "I guess that I was in a band." She didn't continue, so Gray playfully prodded her cheeks as she was staring at her hands with concentration. She swatted his finger away with a small smile, glad that he was still with her._

Erza had never elaborated on what she had meant.. After all, it had not been the greatest memory for Erza...

_"Let's make a band!" Ultear screamed enthusiastically. Erza looked at her friend and raised her eyebrows, not sure why she was saying something so spontaneous.__  
__"Why?.."__  
__"Because you are great at singing, and I'm great at the piano! And since the piano is a bit heavy to carry around, I'll use a keyboard instead. How does that sound?"__  
__"No thanks Ultear. I'd rather not. My voice has been hurting me these days, and I would rather not lose it permanently.." she sighed at her friend's crazy plan.__  
__"It doesn't matter, let's just do it! You have to stop being paranoid and do stuff that you enjoy!"_  
_"..Fine. But if I lose my voice, you are paying for it, even if it has to be your own voice."_  
_"Roger Erza!" she squealed enthusiastically. So every day when they were both available, they would travel around the streets with their instruments and ripped up clothing and just play music. Whether it was a cover, an original, or just a simple tune, people always gathered around them. Even though they did not expect it, they always got money (which they would either return back to the person or graciously accept and give to the poor) and it was thrilling to not have a name that matched the face, but be a character of your dreams. They continued on like this until Ultear's father got suspicious of them. Not wanting to risk her friend getting hurt, they stayed low for a little while, only doing gigs at small locations that weren't crowded. When they thought that Haru had finally stopped being so suspicious of them, they began the band again. **(Refer to chapter 15) **But this time, three more girls who wanted to join the band, and they were accepted as they were great. At around that time, Erza became sick again and was quickly sent to hospital. Erza remembered that even though her and Ultear had technically met each other at the river bank, that wasn't the first time she had seen Ultear.. The first time was when Erza had been hospitalised and needed serious treatment. When she had woken up, she had heard a girl crying in the cubicle next door. She got up and touched the bandage on her eye, hoping that whoever was crying wasn't going to judge her for it. Currently, her hair was cut very short, compared to her usual long locks. It saddened her a bit, but she didn't mind too much as long as she could stay alive._

_"What's wrong little girl?" she asked, hoping that the person would stop crying._  
_"I.. I can't tell you, or my father will hurt me.." she sobbed quietly._  
_"You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to..." Whispered Erza, hoping she wasn't being rude by intruding. Instead, her words had a surprising effect and made the young girl tell her everything about herself from her name to what was currently happening in the family. When she had finished, Erza held her hand to console her. Not once had Ultear turned around to look at the face of the person who had consoled her. Maybe it was because she didn't want to owe anyone favours for helping her in her time of grief, and not knowing the person's face made it a whole lot easier. _  
_"... I'm going to go back to my bed now.. Please rest well Ultear, and I hope we meet again.. " The next day, the young girl who had cried all night had vanished, no trace of her left.._

_As Erza had become a hindrance to the group, and Ultear had become even more careless without Erza's careful planning, Haru had also found out about what Ultear had been doing, and since Erza had been too sick to go anywhere with the four girls, all of them got reprimanded harshly except Erza. Erza didn't know what had happened to Ultear, but the next time they met, she seemed like a completely different person.. Full of hate, malice and vengeance... And that's when she threw her in the lake, leaving those big, ugly scars on her back. That had made the self conscious Erza even more self conscious about herself, as she wouldn't wear anything that would show even a bit of those grotesque gashes._

Erza snapped out of her memories only to realise that even more people were following her now. She had hoped for a happy memory, but she knew that she couldn't always get what she wanted. She didn't mind too much as she was almost at her destination. She smiled for no reason, the expression coming naturally to her. All those who saw it gasped at how beautiful she was and how effortless she made everything seem. As Erza had finally reached her destination, she turned to the crowd and solemnly bowed to them while saying, "Please go inside and sit down. I will be making an announcement shortly, and the more people there the better." She ended her speech with a dazzling smile before flicking her long Scarlet hair and entering the backstage area. She was met by Sting, who smiled at her kindly, even though his eyes showed a different story- sorrow, loss. She shook her head at this and told him, "You still don't trust me, do you?"  
"Of course I trust you! Why would you ever think that I don't?!"  
"...Don't worry about it. I'm probably just seeing things... Are you ready?" she asked softly, getting a vigorous nod from him. If he knew one thing, it was that Erza was very tenacious until the end, but she also put herself before others in any situation. Her selflessness conflicted with her dreams, and she had made the decision on how to deal with the whole ordeal. Sting couldn't say that he thought that it was the best choice, but he knew that Erza wouldn't listen to him no matter how many times he begged. So he just had to support her and do his best to make her fulfil one of her last wishes...

Erza breathed in, her heart beating unsteadily. She had missed the nervousness of being on stage and talking to those who had supported her. She also cursed it, as she felt like if her hopes hadn't skyrocketed, she could have been leading a pleasant, normal life.. But Erza knew that she wasn't normal, and acting like she was normal would only make the situation worse. The only thing she could do now was be herself and do what she thought was best. If it meant getting Gray to listen to her, even if it was only for a few seconds, or just for herself, it would make her happy either way. She had learnt the value of love and friendship, all thanks to Gray, and she felt that it was due time that she repaid that outstanding dept.

She walked up to the curtain, and it opened in front of her. The crowd went wild, cheering at their idol, hoping to catch a glimpse of her or even try to catch her eye. But today wasn't a day for fan service, but a day of redemption. Sting hushed the crowd, leaving absolute silence hanging like fog on a cloudy day.  
"Hello everyone... This announcement, I feel, will be very revelatory.. I have wanted to talk for a while, but in this industry, secrets need to be kept secrets or everything becomes dysfunctional and can lead to the loss of many people.. Many people told me to keep quiet, but I guess that my sense of justice is a bit too strong for that. I thank you all again for coming here and I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me but.. I am quitting as an artist."

The whole crowd gasped in anguish, the news being too shocking to them. But Erza knew that if she didn't keep it under control, it would cause havoc. The only thing that could keep their attention was her voice, so she had to speak clearly and eloquently so that they wouldn't get distracted.  
"Cough... As I've said, I'm quitting being an artist, effectively terminating my contract and I will not be joining the entertainment world again."  
Now, the fans began screaming in protest, finally having a grasp on the situation. Erza shook her head before saying,  
"I don't want to live a lie anymore.. I cannot pretend to be someone I'm not, no matter how hard I try. They say that I'm a great actress, but the only thing I do is deceive others. Yes, what I'm about to say will hurt a lot more people, and people would be pushed to live in poverty, but I cannot let injustice run any longer. I have waited months to express my feelings to tell others what happens behind all the meet and greets, performances, even singing sessions! I believe it cannot be ignored any longer, so I will just tell you now before it's too late. Just for the fickle thing called fame, I pretended to be dating Jellal, even though I had a boyfriend at the time. Because of this business, the people at the top of the hierarchy have to dictate the lives of those who are a lower rank than him. And who has been the master in this puppet show, I ask you?"

"Haru!" Jellal boldly shouted in the crowd. Erza spun her head around to scan the area, but she couldn't find the familiar face anywhere. "The ploy to make Jellal and I date was just a publicity stunt to get Haru to get more media attention that he already gets. And me, what am I? Well... I guess you could say that I am just a normal high school girl who wanted to complete her dream before it was too late. And thanks to all of you and so many more of you guys out there watching me on TV and even if you never watch this, I am truly grateful for you guys making my sixteen years of life worth living, even though my dream did not last as long as I thought it would." Erza bowed one last time before walking away, security guards trying to keep her fans from chasing after her.

* * *

**Gray's House 14:20**

Gray had watched the whole thing with his mouth wide open as he had not been able to formulate any words as she had decided to do something so drastic. _I...I can't believe this... It can't be true.. It can't... _Gray sat still, waiting, as if someone any second now would just pop out of nowhere and tell him that it was all a joke. But when nothing happened, he knew it was not a joke. Just do be certain, he ran all the way upstairs to check his calendar, only to find that it wasn't April the first. Gray tried to keep calm by thinking on the situation rationally, like he usually would. But for today, he had nothing to say. He couldn't even come up with one witty comment that would make the whole situation feel like it was just a bad nightmare. And what was worse was that if she had been saying the truth, she may be in incredible danger, and she would surely be attacked by Haru. So then Gray bolted to the door, but he remembered that promise he had made.

_"How will I know that you aren't going to escape?"__  
__"Escape? Why would I escape from my home?" Gray asked, his attitude blasé as usual.__  
__"Let's just say that little miss ex is still fawning over you. If you cannot do something yourself then I will have to use you to achieve my goals of destroying her emotionally. And you definitely know how vicious I can get, so please don't tempt me.."__  
__"Fine, I won't leave the house.."__  
__"Correction, Gray- you won't leave the house to go meet Erza."__  
__"And how will you know if I suddenly went and saw her? What if I needed something from her?"__  
__"What could you possibly have left there, you stripper? Nothing is of value anymore to you, so don't worry about such stupid things. Get prepared Gray to leave this place... And as for your question earlier, I will be keeping cameras and a foot scanner so I can identify all of your guests by just using DNA. And you know I'm not bluffing, right?" she said with a spine chilling grin.__  
__"How the hell would I know?" he said in a gruff voice, trying not to show his annoyance. Just as Ultear was about to leave, the doorbell rang. Gray bolted up and opened the door quickly to check who it was, just in case it was Erza and he needed to tell her to run for her life before Ultear would murder her. If that happened and he was captured, he would be relocated somewhere where even Erza wouldn't know the location. He did not want that, so he opened the door cautiously, his heart pounding fiercely in his chest.__  
__"Hello, I've got a special delivery for a Mr. Gray Fullbuster?" Gray sighed in relief at the man in front of him.. It was the postman.__  
__"Yes, I'm Gray. What is it?"__  
__"As I've specified before, I have a special package for you. Would you mind if I got your signature before I hand it over to you? I need to confirm that it's yours."__  
__"Sure," he smiled politely, hoping that the postman wouldn't sense his discomfort. After all, he was being scrutinised very carefully by Ultear. He carefully signed his name slowly to waste as much time as possible before he would have to confront Ultear again. When he had finished, the man smiled and said, "Thank you sir, here you go... Um.. Sir? Why did you take your shirt off?" asked the postman suspiciously. Gray looked at his torso to see that indeed, he had taken off his shirt at one point in time.__  
__"Sorry, it's a bad habit of mine.. I'm not used to hot temperatures, you see.."__  
__"Ah! Sorry for being rude," he said politely. Gray waved him off, embarrassed about his habit and how he had had to lie about it to not seem like a perverted teenager. He closed the door shut, holding the backpack in his hand. Ultear's eye's instantly lit up, realising what the object in his hand was.__  
__"How come it took so long to get to you?" she pondered out loud, not making any sense to Gray.__  
__"What? You sent it to me? What is it?" Gray questioned her.__  
__"Nothing important. I'm leaving now. Make sure to be ready soon Gray, okay?"__  
__"Yeah.." he muttered.__  
__"See you later then..." and she left her sentence hanging, hoping he would say something. But he said nothing, so she just left, wondering if she was doing the right thing..._

Because of Ultear, he had also had to erase any contact from Erza, including her phone number and her email address. Even if he did try to access it (as he had memorised it a long time ago), Ultear had blocked everything connecting to Erza on everything he owned. She had even tried to take his phone away, just in case he found a way to hack in it and talk to her. But Gray knew that he wasn't that smart that he could do such complicated things like hacking. And no matter how many times he had wanted to reach out to her and help her, he knew that it was futile. Not just because of Erza, but because of other personal reasons...

Gray didn't feel like a good enough man to stand by her side yet (if he ever could), so he first wanted to solve the mysteries in his life. He really didn't know where to start, but he knew that he wanted to sort out his life and become what he had always aspired to be. If he kept all the family secrets buried, they would only torment him until he was buried in his grave. However, if he did tackle all of the problems one by one, he could have a recollection of his real parents and how he could have lived if they had been there for him. Gray knew that he had ignored his family relations for a very long time, but he knew that it was finally time to face them, no matter what truths lay ahead. Lyon and Ul would always be his family, but he knew that he also needed to know about his biological family. All he had to do was collect the puzzle pieces to create the complete jigsaw- the jigsaw which would reveal what really went on behind the scenes of his family. He didn't know if his grandfather was still alive, but if he could find her, it would help to piece together some of the evidence he had and to find out what evidence he was lacking.

Gray sat back in his chair and lay down as he had suddenly felt sleepy. After a few moments of drowsiness, he fell asleep, peace coming to him..  
But it was a peace short lived, as he had a dream of his biological parents.

_Gray had a singing competition that could have made him a young star. It had almost been his birthday and both of his parents had gone abroad for work, so they usually left him alone. Feeling confident in his win, he had begged his parents to visit him through a phone call. While his mother had disagreed and told him that it was a waste of time if they went there and he won, or they went there and he lost, it made no difference to her. Gray had been really hurt by her comment, but his mother was always very harsh to him. Sometimes, she forgot she even had a son and thought that he was a strange child living in her house. Gray found it hard to believe that a woman who had spent nine months with him as a burden wouldn't have loved him even a bit, or he would have been killed with a miscarriage or abortion. So while she treated him harshly, he still had hope that his mother loved him. Meanwhile, his father was a kind, intelligent man who was very gentle to him. Gray knew that his father loved him and he also loved his father because he only wanted the best for him, which gave Gray confidence which he lost whenever he was around his mother.__  
__Gray had suspected that his parents didn't actually love each other. He had never seen them kiss or do anything romantic with each other, and while his mother did try to display affection excessively, his father refused it bluntly. It felt like his mother only felt infatuation for his father while his father felt absolutely nothing for her. Instead, he directed all his love to his son, seeing him as the most important person in the world. It had confused Gray, because a family's ideal would have been the parents loving each other in matrimony, through the good and the bad. Then again, he didn't even know how they had gotten to know each other. He knew that his father wasn't the type of man to live with a burden, but he was clearly carrying a huge burden on his back that he couldn't even tell his beloved son. No matter how many times he had tried to give his shoulder to lean on, his father had always refused it and treated him to something to distract him. Even though Gray's memories of his parents were foggy, he could never forget his father's gentle smile that also seemed pained. Gray had promised himself that he would get rid of that sad smile, to be replaced with the happy one he had when he forgot who he was for a few moments when they played together. But Gray had never been able to fulfil his secret promise.__  
__One fond memory of Gray's was that his father had always told him the same bed night story to go to sleep. It had always seemed sad to Gray, but also very relatable...__  
__"Son, do you want a bed time story?" asked his father, yawning a bit at the activities of the day.__  
__"Always papa, always!" shouted Gray in excitement.__  
__"Keep your voice down, you uncultured child!" screamed his mother. Gray instantly shut up, tears starting to form in his eyes. Gray's father's face became pained as soon as he saw his son in that state and started patting his head, simultaneously trying to wipe the tears away from his eyes. Gray didn't want to annoy his mother again, so he stopped his hiccupping and hid himself under the covers.__  
__"Gray, come out of there, or you won't be able to hear the story," Gray's father whispered. When Gray didn't respond, Gray's father made a big show of placing the book on Gray's bed and trying to walk away, stopping short of the door.__  
__"Wait daddy! I want to hear you read it!" he said in a hushed voice. Gray's father smiled a cheeky smile before going back to his son to tell him the story.__  
__"Are you ready?" he asked his son. Gray nodded his head vigorously to show that he had been ready a long time ago. So his father began telling the story.._

_"There was once a young prince, a lot older than you are now. This prince loved travelling and exploring the world, but he was constricted by his family, as they deemed him too important to leave. The prince hated feeling trapped, so he ran away, leaving his brother the heir to the throne. But no matter how much his brother also wanted the throne, the family only wanted the first prince to be king, as they did not trust the second prince. The first prince travelled everywhere he could with his limited money, as he had nowhere to go. Then, he knew that he had to do something with himself, so he travelled a bit more to a place where people his age could be seen. And he was right, and there he found his princess. He tried getting close to her and tried to make her fall for him, and he eventually succeeded. She didn't know about him being a prince, so the princess had learned to love a poor looking man who was actually a prince. The prince was grateful for that, and he had planned on marrying her and telling her the truth. But his family had found him by the time he had planned to propose, and they had found a weakness in him to ensure that he would never run away again.. And now, the prince is still bound today by that weakness and only his first born child could find out the big weakness that held him there.. The End."__  
__"Yawn... Dad. That story is so sad, but you say it like it's actually happened.."__  
__"Maybe it has, maybe it hasn't. But if it does become real, will you be able to find the truth Gray?"__  
__"May-Yawn! Maybe daddy..." he said as he started drifting off to sleep. His father smiled at his adorable smile and kissed him on the forehead before saying, "Good night Gray, sleep well your Majesty."_

_Gray remembered opening the book that his father always read to him the day before that fateful day, but there had been nothing inside. What had his father been reading?_

_His mother had reluctantly gone along with her husband to see Gray, but fate had not been on their side as the plane they had boarded had crashed into the sea. None of the bodies had ever been found, but Gray had known that they had been on that flight, minutes before they had died. Distraught over the loss of his parents, he had sworn to himself that he would give up singing, because it only brought bad luck to him.. But he could never quite give up singing.._

Gray woke up a few hours later, dazed. He had only expected a short nap, but he had slept for over five hours. That dream had brought back a lot of memories that he had forgotten, especially how ironic that little bed time story was to his situation. He tried to get up when he realised that he had tears in his eyes. He quickly wiped them off, but more and more came, so he just let them flow freely until they would finally stop.

* * *

**Conference 14:00**

Jellal saw the opportunity that Erza had given him, and he knew that he had to seize it before it was too late. He rushed to the stage and picked up the microphone, tapping it to get the audience's attention. When they realised who it was, they all started screaming his name and asking him if what Erza said was a lie or if it was some sick and twisted publicity stunt.  
"Calm down! Please, calm down!" The crowd instantly calmed down at Jellal's authoritative voice. When he knew that he had them under his control, he started.  
"As you now know, Erza is leaving Magnolia Star Agency, and so am I and every single artist that works there. The reason being is that when we entered the company, we all knew we would just be pawns to my 'Father's' schemes. We were never treated fairly, and we had to try our very hardest under the worst pressures, as well as deal with Haru, who liked to blackmail all those who worked under him. His narcissistic ways made him try to use our weaknesses to play us and obey his every command. And if we didn't comply, everything we hold dear would be in danger. Not just our secrets, but our friends and family too. My 'so-called-father' has also resorted to killing, even though there is no evidence of the killing. I am a son from his mistress and my sister Ultear is his daughter from his wife. Both of our mothers died around the same time, and there was one thing in common between them that nobody else suspected except their children- they both despised Haru. They wanted him gone from their lives. But instead of leaving, he decided to get rid of them, keeping the products as a way to make money. Who knows how many more people he has killed to hide his secrets or to get what he wants? This is why we have to stop this man now, or he will continue his dictatorship; isn't that right Father?" he finished with a smirk on his face, directing the last part at Haru.

Thanks to the events of that day, the company quickly went into ruins as Jellal had not been joking about all the artists in the company, as well as the staff members and any of the crew actually leaving. It had not been an easy feat, but Jellal had convinced them to leave the company, giving them the hope of not having to deal with Haru and that he would create something just as big and magnificent, but fair and honest, making sure everyone's talents were used in the right way. He promised that all their secrets would be buried (although he didn't know how he could do this) and that they would be safe in the new company, were Magnolia Star Agency once was. The contractors had torn down the building remorselessly and everyone had cheered that day, glad that the monstrosity was finally gone.

Jellal didn't know what to name the new company, but Fairy Tail had decided to sponsor him, even though he wasn't a student. They had decided that if he went to school, he could learn much more and he could also develop his skills to become the CEO of a huge organisation. Jellal knew he was good at anything tactical, but he still had a lot more to learn. So he accepted, choosing to call the company "Fairy Tail Studios", commemorating Fairy Tail the high school after it finished its construction.

Another piece of good news was that after Haru had heard what had happened in the conference, he had fled away in hiding. Sadly, no one could find him, but now he could never go into public view again, or he would be arrested on the spot and judged in court for all his crimes. If it was up to Jellal, he would have killed him first to make sure that he could never come back again. He didn't feel like the man deserved any mercy, but the slow torture of him killing the man who had murdered his mother with his own hands. It was an undeniable blood lust, but he didn't want to go to prison either. He was a man of careful planning and logic, not impulsively trying to do things without thinking. But Haru had lost everything in a space of a day, and that's all that Jellal could ask for.

After the conference, Ultear had rushed to her brother. He hadn't known what to expect, but he had received a huge slap on his face, which had made it a vivid rouge, leaving a hand print behind. Just when he thought that he was going to have to face more torture (by bracing himself for a hit), he felt someone embrace him. He opened his eyes to see that his sister was hugging him tightly. She whispered, "Thank you for always being there for me..." and that was enough for Jellal to lose all the blood lust he had.

* * *

**Hospital 22:21**

Lucy was going to give dinner to Natsu. Lately, he had not been eating properly and he looked quite thin. Lucy hoped that his appetite would come back soon, because that was one thing that had always been with him. If he lost it, it felt like something was seriously wrong. She would try her hardest to be of support to Natsu, so he would never see her as useless. She knew that Natsu had never seen her that way, but she still felt like she was underachieving. Being compared to him, she didn't feel nearly strong enough. She would work hard to protect him from any dangers, no matter the risk of her life. After all, he had saved her life the moment he had entered it, making the world seem full of colour. It seemed a bit clichéd, but the world felt like it was full of vitality and vibrancy, and no matter where they were, his light would always make her feel safe.

But she didn't want to just depend on him, but she wanted him to depend on her too. Therefore, she secretly took pepper and anything that screamed 'HOT' and rushed to Natsu's room. They had moved him three times in the past week and there had been at least five tests conducted every day. It was strenuous on Natsu, and it made Lucy feel weak because she couldn't do anything to stop the pain. Moreover, he couldn't use morphine to lessen the pain as it reacted badly with his two hearts. Thinking of his two hearts made Lucy grieve for her two friends, but now she did not cry every time she thought of them, which was definitely an improvement. The loss was still fresh in her mind, but she felt even more sorry for Lisanna as she was probably experiencing ten times the pain she was feeling, as she had known them her entire life.

When she entered the room, she dropped the plate on the floor. Ignoring the mess, she searched around the room for any signs of Natsu. She checked in the bed, under the bed, in the bathroom, in one of the gardens, the other garden, the reception area, anywhere and everywhere she could think of. _He must be here, he must be! _Lucy ignored the rising panic in her heart, keeping the hope of Natsu being somewhere in the hospital. She didn't know if she should alarm the staff, because if they found him, they would say that she worried for no reason. _But what if they don't find him?.. _She tried blocking the dreaded thoughts, keeping all positive thoughts in her mind. She had promised herself to be strong, so she wouldn't just crumble at the first sign of adversity. After all, she knew she wasn't a weak person.

Wondering aimlessly around the hospital, a nurse noticed and asked her if she was looking for someone. Lucy politely declined her help and told her that he was probably just sleeping again, and had tried to pull a prank on her. For only a moment, the nurse looked at her doubtfully, but her expression was replaced with a professional smile as she said, "Of course he is!" and left. The doubtful look the nurse had given her a broken her heart, and she had felt physical pain in the chest area on the left. She ignored it, heading back upstairs to Natsu's room.

She looked in the room to see no one there. Now her heart was beating furiously fast, and she checked the drawers and cupboards, anything that could contain an explanation for Natsu being missing. When Lucy concluded that it was unlikely, as they had never been given paper or a pen, she realised that maybe he had texted her where he was, and she had missed it! With that new plan in mind, she checked her phone and there was indeed a voice mail from Natsu. For a brief moment, she felt relief. Only a brief moment, as what he said had not been anything but bad news for Lucy.

"Hey Luce! Sorry for going away randomly like that, but I guess I needed to go. Igneel, my father, asked me to be a vigilante with him before the whole incident, and I had already agreed. I wanted to tell you face to face, but I hate seeing you crying because of me and... I'm not very brave.. Anyway! Please protect Erza, as she is one of my first friends and my best friend who always takes care of me, even if she beats me up in every dual we have! And protect that stupid stripper Gray, as he's your best friend and he needs support. He's going through stuff, but I don't know much about it either... Make sure the gang stays safe and that they always stay together! And especially you, my love, please stay happy and find your path in the future. I know you can find all the Twelve Zodiacs and protect them, can't you? I know that's been your dream, because that's the type of person you are. Warm but feisty. But I guess that's what I love about you.. I'm putting all my faith in you! And if you get tired of me, I hope you will find a guy who's fit for you, but he better be stronger than me haha!...I love you Lucy."

**And I'm done :D Again, sorry for the really long delay xD But considering I am quite sick, I'm pretty impressed with myself. Stay happy my adorable royal chibis and remember to sleep early, because if you don't, you get massive headaches and you can't concentrate as all you want to do it sleep (like sleep deprived me ;p). Damn you manga for being so addicting x3! And PM me anytime if ya wanna chat :D. \\(*^-^*)/ HUGS! Oh, I forgot to say this! I left Erza's parents' love story unfinished because I'm going to write a separate side story that will probably be called something else (I don't know yet xD) So look forward to it!**

**~Roxanne**


	49. Great Curse, Secret Melody

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Heyo guys :D Miss me? Probably not, since I keep on procrastinating xD I'm really sorry... But at least I'm writing, right? So, this chapter will be very revelatory (as are all the chapters :p). Unlike all these other chapters I've been doing, this won't be 10k, because frankly it takes way too much time and for what I've planned for this chapter (which isn't a lot), there is no way I can add 10k description xD. But the rest of the story is packed with stuff that is supposed to happen, so for the rest of the chapters, it will be 10k. Question, how long would you guys like for the final chapter to be? :)**

**Guest: Don't worry, I always do in the end ;) I'm sad that you probably won't see this message, but thank you very much for reading this far :D**

**Again, I thank you all for reading BMRAIBYS, because the journey has just been incredible, and I've actually got 15k views?! O-O The world must be on the verge of death xD..**

**Enjoy ;p!**

**Chapter XLIX: The Great Curse, The Secret Melody**

_Everybody always told him to marry his childhood friend. After all, she was pretty, and kind and sweet, plus she knew everything about him. If he could fall for anyone in the entire world, it would have to be her... But he felt nothing. And he couldn't change that fact. He had tried, several times in fact. He even went so far as to kiss her passionately, but it had all been useless, because his heart hadn't sped up, and he had gained no butterflies in his stomach, just a sinking feeling of guilt. But he knew that she had reacted completely opposite to him, as he had heard her heart thumping at an incredible speed, and saw her cheeks turning crimson before she ran away. He had let her run away, not sure what to do about her._

_He was not the type of person who cared about what others thought of him, just living life by following his heart. But it was not a unique characteristic to just him, but also his family. His family had great power, and a lot of influence on other people's thoughts and lives. In many parts of the world, they were considered the most important family there was. But with great power, there was great responsibility, and it all started with his family blood._

_Everyone in his family had been part of a grand lineage which dated back a long, long time ago. The story was unknown to those who were not part of the family, and it remained hidden from those who were part of the family, cleverly masked as a tale that was there to scare the kids of the family during night-time, nothing more. But as they became of age, they knew that the Great Curse was not just the stuff of fairy tales and magic, but it was actually true and it affected every single one of their lives._

_With the Great Curse, there were also several blessings. One of which was for an extraordinary talent in music. Those in that family could play any instrument at a degree that even a professional could not manage, but not many people knew about said talent, as most chose to keep it secret. One other extraordinary talent they had was the talent to use one instrument that seemed so common, but was their most powerful weapon- their voices. Their voices were said to be descended from the angels themselves, and anything that came out of their mouth would be a harmonious melody that wouldn't need any sort of training to perfect, as it was already perfect._

_Their talent may be there to help them solve the greatest riddle of all time- the Secret Melody. No one knew if it was a melody, a secret, both, or something completely different. Whatever the Secret Melody was, it was the only thing that could free their family from the Great Curse. But if it was easy to find, they would not be in the predicament of facing disaster every single generation. The Secret Melody was also a family legend, which most people tended to ignore, as it talked of going through abnormal challenges which seemed much too simple, and yet complex in their own way to gain true happiness._

_A long time ago, a man in the family had also discredited the Secret Melody, as well as the Great Curse. He had been alive at the time of the mages, when magic had been commonplace. He had been a merchant and a traveller, staying alone and going to several different countries. He was quite a popular man because of the mystery that was shrouded around him, but he was just a lonely person who wanted to find a place to call home. When he had finally found a guild which had accepted everything about him, his flaws and all, he had truly been happy. He had created wonderful memories with the people in his guild, joining the group which had some of the strongest mages, as well as almost falling in love and fighting creatures and monsters._

_It had been a whirlwind of emotions, and he had never felt happier. But the Great Curse would always strike when the person found true happiness. Strange and tragic occurrences had started to occur around him, and he instantly remembered the Great Curse. He had tried to ignore it for a few weeks, keeping himself in denial so he could cling on to his happiness. But as the days passed and everything seemed to get worse, he knew definitively that it was his fault. When someone dear to him had died, he left the guild, feeling guilt and sorrow as he left, cursing the Great Curse and swearing to find the Secret Melody until his last breath._

_So he went on an adventure to find the Secret Melody, trying to become the lone wolf he once was. But he could never forget his guild. As he slayed enemies and followed clues to the Secret Melody, even though they seemed fruitless, he also befriended new people. But as he did not want to let others feel the same pain his guild had suffered through, he made sure to cut off ties with them and run away unnoticed, hoping that no tragedy would befall them. He lived in constant fear for other people's lives, disregarding his altogether. It seemed that he was out of the danger, but it was only just starting._

_Just like his predecessors, he had befallen the same fate as them. He had caved in and made the situation worse than it already was. He felt anguish and pain, and he knew that it was all because of the Great Curse. He could not live with the pain of being alone all this time, so he searched on at a much faster pace, wanting to find anything to do with the Secret Melody. He hoped that if he could find the Secret Melody, his descendants would also be free of the curse._

_Unlike anyone else before him, he had actually found a piece of the Secret Melody after all those years of searching. He had become rugged and tired, his features not as young as they were supposed to look. His eyes were bloodshot and he had developed a sense of paranoia, making him feel chased by the Great Curse, as if it was a physical presence. But no matter how much he tried to scruntinise the piece of paper in his hands and decipher the message, he could not think of how the symbols meant anything. After all, the language seemed dated from a time when a developed language was not present. And he died like that, trying to decipher the piece of paper to help his descendants and return to the guild._

_Instead, the protagonist of this chapter was not as selfless as his ancestors. In fact, he was the one who caused the most tragedy to those who were close to him, even in death.. After all, their family also had a curse were they would always die young.._

_When he had been resting at the hospital after his birth, another baby had been crying at the same time as him. Because he had been quite a weak child, he had been kept in hospital with his mother, who was suffering considerably after she had given birth. So he had spent the first few months in hospital with his mother, and every day, he had been visited by a baby who was one year older than him. She had always just stared at him for a considerable amount of time before leaving. When her mother had noticed this, she had tried to befriend his mother, who was slowly getting better. The two children spent more and more time together, and when he was finally allowed to roam on the floor while crawling, the first person he had crawled to was that girl. They had quickly befriended each other, even going so far as making both their first words be each other's names. It was an undeniable bond, and the parents of the children had thought them to be the perfect couple; everyone except his mother._

_When they had started school, he had given the teachers hell, as he had continuously tried sneaking into her class, even though she was one year older. To not trouble the teachers, his parents had decided to move him up a year, so that they could be in the same class. This had made the children very happy, as they could hang out with their best friend all the time without having to sneak around or break the rules. Even if he had been the youngest in the class, it had been easy to catch up with them as he was a born intellectual. Meanwhile, his best friend struggled in school, but he was always there to help her. When his father had jokingly said at a party that he would plan their wedding engagement, his wife had slapped him in the face, shocking their guests. Being young and inquisitive, he had wanted to know why she had hurt his father, so he asked her. She had told him flat out that there was no way that he would ever love her, and if he ever did try, all it would do was turn her innocent heart into poison for him. When he had heard this, he had been terrified of his mother and her melancholic expression, so he had started screaming for help. His father had comforted him, blaming his wife in the process. She had just shrugged her shoulders and told him that it was necessary for him to know, or he would always stay naive and unhappy. Seeing it as an unhappy memory of his beautiful and usually kind mother, he had erased it from his memory to forget the one time that his mother had hurt him._

_But his mother loved him dearly, and he knew it. She saw her child as the most beautiful baby in the world with long eyelashes and Raven hair streaked with White, which he hated showing to anyone but those who were close to him. He found it very odd that his parents loved each other so much when the rest of his family's (from his father's side) marriages seemed catastrophic, as the couples barely looked each other in the eye, let alone acted like they had married each other because they were in love, and not otherwise. His family was the only happily married one, and he was glad to have such loving parents who loved him just as much as he did to them. But his mother could not stand his relationship with the girl, but she chose to ignore it so he would love her all the same._

_So he had continued his friendship with the girl, doing things that had made her become more and more aware of their relationship as the years had passed. Until the age of five, they had been taking a bath together, when she had understood that her body was growing and she shouldn't have a bath with a boy. One day, she had refused to get into the bath with him, telling him that she would go in after him, as she didn't like bathing with him. At the time, he had thought that it was strange for her to do something so out of character, but he had quickly moved on. When she was ten, she had stopped sleeping in the same bed as him, realising that it was something that was not normal for friends who were different genders. He had acted out by saying,__  
_"Why are you getting off the bed?! Stay, I'm cold!" as he had grabbed her waist and tried to pull her back in his bed._  
_"Get off!" she had screamed, wanting to get off as quickly as possible from his bed._  
_"But we still haven't napped!" he screamed back, pulling her more forcefully._  
_"I'm already ten and you are nine! We don't need naps anymore, so grow up!" she yanked herself away from him before bolting to the door. He had ignored her for a month, telling her that the only way he would talk was if she came back on his bed to have naps with him, and hating the long silence, she had agreed. But instead of their usual sleeping arrangements, she had brought a futon with her to go next to his bed. When he had noticed this, he had rolled over from his bed to her futon, and she had squealed in terror, as she had been half asleep._  
_"What's wrong with you?!" she had yelled at him, her heart beating too quickly for a child._  
_"I just want to sleep with you! It's cold without you, and you've been ignoring me for a month! Tell me why, and I will leave.." he said, his voice draining to a whisper._  
_"Fine... I'm getting too big for you bed.."_  
_"Huh...?"_  
_"I said, I'm getting too big for your bed. I'm at least ten centimetres taller than you, and I will only grow taller and possibly bigger, so I can't fit on the bed with you.." He let a sigh of relief escape from his mouth, glad that she was only worried about growing up._  
_"Is that all?" he giggled. She looked at him, baffled at his laughing figure._  
_"What do you mean, 'is that all'?" she asked, confused._  
_"We can just get a bigger bed!" was his reply. She had wanted to face palm herself because of how truly dense he was._  
_"By getting taller, I also mean growing up. Soon, you will be getting bigger, and you will also notice things happening to your body. You won't be able to break the habit of going to sleep with me if we continue, and you also won't be able to grow up, or it will get awkward. Either you stop growing, or you stop getting in the same bed as me. Because you cannot stop growing up, you have to stop thinking it's okay for us to get into the same bed without people talking."_  
_"Who cares if people talk? I don't.." he rebuked._  
_"But I do, so do it for my sake.. Please.." Her hands were folded behind her and he could see tear droplets forming underneath her eyes. He had never seen her look so vulnerable before, as she had usually spoken harshly to him, like an older sister. In front of him, she looked so much younger than her actual age. He decided to drop the subject, and they didn't sleep in the same bed for a long time, as he had decided to respect her wishes.__

_A lot of tragedy had happened during his younger years, and he had acquired an older brother named Haru. Ever since day one, he knew that his older brother did not like him. He had tried to ignore his threats and death glares, but it had only considerably worsened during the years. And it did not help that Haru had a massive crush on his best friend, who did everything to ignore him. Finally in high school, he had realised that he had been a bit too close to his childhood friend in the past, so he had tried to find other friends and be more sociable, being careful of when he hugged her from behind or hesitating putting his arm around her shoulder. She had clearly noticed that he had been more distant, even avoiding her at times. This had only made her angry with him, and she knew that there was only one way to make him notice her... She had to make him jealous. The only person who she knew he hated was none other than his brother, Haru._

_So she had started befriending Haru, ignoring her childhood friend in the process. Unexpectedly, her plan had worked, but not in the way she thought. He saw her as a dear older sister, and he knew that if Haru got closer to her, she would hate him forever. He didn't want that, so he did the only thing he thought he could do. Let me set the scene for you:_

_Haru is talking with her, laughing together at some hilarious joke near their lockers. Meanwhile, he is approaching them with a plan in hand, hoping to take her away from Haru. He sees her and grabs her, pulling her closer to his body. He screams, "She's mine, don't you forget that Haru!" and kisses her full on the lips with a slow, sensual kiss. He lingers for a lot longer than he had planned, hoping to make Haru snap at what was happening in front of him. A huge crowd gathers around them, applauding them, but he can't hear anything. He only wants to hear the angry gasp of his older brother, but he feels himself suffocating, and the girl's lips are clinging on to him. He lets go first, gasping for air. She is also gasping for air and her face is flushed. The whole school had been rooting for their 'love', making sure they were paired together for everything and admiring them from afar so their relationship would bloom. She looks at him excitedly and he looks down at her. He was surprised at how tall he had become, when he had been shorter than her for over a decade. Seeing her looking up to him makes him feel slightly superior, and he forgets how much bigger she used to look to him. How strong and intimidating she could be when they were younger. All he could see now was a smitten girl who wanted to stick by him no matter what, a triumphant smile on her face, as if a plan of hers had worked. She held out her hand, and he took it, not seeing any other alternative. After all, he had dug the hole for himself. He glanced to his left to see his brother, a heartbroken expression on his face. A part of him had wanted to comfort Haru, tell him that he could have her and that it was all a misunderstanding. Ask him why Haru hated him so much in the first place and promise to help Haru in any way possible. Instead, he chose to smirk at him, before walking away with one arm around her hips as the crowd parted and congratulated him._

_A few weeks after that their wedding plans had been finalised, and they would be wed in their second year of high school. She had spent the whole time preparing for the wedding and taking care of the trivial things, while he had chosen to ignore all the noise around him and study. The day before the wedding day, he had a nightmare that his mother had kept on saying, "I told you so," showing how his actions had influenced the people around him in a bad way. All he could feel was heartache and emptiness, and he knew that he did not want to marry her. But he carried on with the ceremony, faking a smile throughout it all. When they had been alone as man and wife, he had ignored her and gone to sleep. Around her, he never tried to act like a loving husband or even talk to her, only acting when someone else was in their presence. He knew that she wouldn't say anything, because she valued him too much. But that was what made him most irritated, and he made sure to stay in school late at night on the pretence of studying just to stay away from her._

_But as time passed, she grew increasingly angry at him for always ignoring her, so she chose to retaliate. She believed that if she could make him get angry, he would at least speak to her, instead of ignoring her. Moreover, she heard that some couples had love-hate relationships, and would be even more passionate after an argument. But the only thing that happened was that it made him angry every day, and he would slam the door and walk out, only feeling hatred for his childhood friend. After nine miserable months of marriage, they knew that they weren't meant for each other. At least, he did, because his wife kept herself in denial, telling herself that time would help. But he knew that time would do nothing, and he could only leave her. He wanted to speak rationally to her, so that they could both be calm about the separation._

_"I think that our marriage is a failure, and that we need to separate.." he started, wanting to be frank with her.__  
_"Well I think that it's too soon in the marriage, and people will talk if we get divorced," she replied calmly, which surprised him._  
_"You know I never cared for reputation," he rebutted, trying to be reasonable._  
_"But your parents do. And I do too. Please don't use your selfish wishes to try and ruin what we have."_  
_"But what do we have!?" he raised his voice, anger seeping in, "All we do is fight, and I never want to see you half the time! We only act like we are married when we are near other people, and I can't help think that this is a disaster and it should have never happened!" As he breathed the last words, he heard a "click" sound. He looked at his wife's trembling hand to see a pistol in it. He looked at her face to see that she was crying, fat droplets falling on the pistol. He assessed the situation calmly, sitting in a comfortable position._  
_"So is this what our marriage has come to?" he asked, glaring at the pistol pointed at him._  
_"J-j-just stay there. Y-you c-can't leave me. Y-y-you promised me you would love me forever.."_  
_"Don't you get it by now? It was obviously all a lie to make Haru mad! After all I never lov-" he said before he felt blood slowly dripping from his cheek, a cut where the bullet had grazed him. Her eyes were those of a cobra, cold and calculating, as she stared him down._  
_"I just told you. Don't leave me. You promised me that you would love me. It was never a lie, and I know that." Her voice was cold, even monotone. He had never seen her like this, not expressing any emotion. She was either flustered or love sick, but it felt like now she had disconnected with the humane side of her. In his heart, he started feeling true fear, and knew that if she wanted to, she wouldn't hesitate to kill him, and then kill herself to be with him. She must have detected the fear in his eyes, as she had smiled at him, the smile not reaching her eyes and said, "Don't be scared of me, dear husband. After all, as long as you stay with me and love me, nothing bad will happen to you." He contemplated his next words before saying,_  
_"I will," and she put the gun away. They went to sleep and he even slept on the same bed as her for the first time in their nine month marriage.__

_But he had no intention of staying. So he left as soon as she had fallen asleep, promising that he would never go back to that place, trapped by her. There was no way she would accept a divorce contract if he gave her one, so he would wait until time passed and he would ask her again, hoping she would say yes. If she didn't, he would get an annulment instead, as he saw no other option, even though it was unlikely that it would work._

**_[Refer to chapter 25]_**_  
_He went to a town near the mountains, were he could be far away from his past. Thinking of the only thing he was good at, he asked the local towns people where the library was, and they kindly helped him. Seeing a tall girl trying to reach for a book that was at the top of the bookshelf, he decided to instinctively help her. He smiled at the pretty girl who looked at him with a very surprised expression. He placed the book in her hand before walking away, knowing that he had to hurry to the school. Several days before, he had sent in his application letter to make the whole process go smoothly, and they had been expecting him, to introduce him to the school building.__

_After being guided around the school, he had entered his classroom, respectfully bowing down to the class. As he had been about to stand back up straight, he saw a wide eyed girl staring at him. It was the girl from the library! He smiled at her, hoping she would also recognise him. She suddenly stood up, making the whole class laugh at her. She said,__  
_"I thought I saw a ghost from an anime I was watching yesterday!" They all laughed in appreciation, showing that she was quite popular. The teacher introduced Aki and told them his surname, Hiroshi, which he had specifically told the school not to do. Luckily, no one seemed to recognise the surname, which was actually a famous name, so he forgave the teacher. The teacher was about to tell Aki to sit next to her, but it was obvious that she was the only one who didn't have someone next to her on the free desk, so he walked to the empty desk and sat beside her. She seemed nervous around him, and he found her extremely cute, even though his first impression of her had been of an outgoing girl. It seemed weird for her to be acting so shy, so he wanted to tease her and see another cute side of her. As he had prepared no books, he had shifted his desk next to hers to try and see her book. She had a ridiculous expression, and Aki had started laughing at her._  
_"Sorry, I don't have any of my books today as I'm new and all. Nice to meet you, my name is Hiroshi Aki, but let's not be formal and just call me Aki". He held out his hand so she would take it and shake it, but she just stared at it, hesitant. He was about to pull his hand away when she suddenly grabbed it. Then, he was not expecting her to shout, "MY NAME IS UL!" Instead of making fun of her, he also shouted, "NICE TO MEET YOU UL, I HOPE WE CAN BE GOOD FRIENDS!" And they had spent the day next to each other goofing around and talking.__

_Over the months, they had become extremely close and the whole town had noticed the belligerent sexual tension between them. At the school dance, they had finally kissed. Aki had been the happiest man alive, his past a thing of the past. During his time with Ul, he had never even thought about his wife, or the brother who hated him, or the family he missed in his new life. Starting university with Ul and completing it, and even living with her. It was all a dream to him, being with the girl he loved. The day he was about to propose to Ul, he had gotten a sudden phone call from his wife. His whole reality came crashing down on him and he realised that he had been avoiding who he really was for too long. He had answered the phone call unwillingly, knowing that he couldn't stay with Ul, or he wouldn't be able to finalise the divorce with his wife to marry Ul._

_"Hi," he said in a gruff voice.__  
_"Hello dear. How have you been?" she asked, her voice similar to how it had been all those years ago when he had pulled a gun to his face._  
_"Good. My life's been good. How about yours?"_  
_"Everyone thought you were dead or kidnapped," she interrupted him, knowing that she couldn't keep the pretence any longer._  
_"I wish they thought me dead.." he had mumbled, knowing that if he had pretended to be dead, she would have become a widow and then married Haru, so that his whole life would have been solved._  
_"What did you say? Anyway, we are all waiting for you. After all, we can find out your location easily enough if we have to, and we know that you want something." This made him perk up, as he saw it as a window of opportunity to finally say to his whole family that their marriage was shambles. He also did not want anyone to know where to find Ul, as he loved her too much to let her be mixed in all the family drama._  
_"Ok," he replied simply before cutting the line. He packed his bags quickly, knowing that it would take quite a while to finalise things. He knew that if he told Ul anything, she would be put in danger, so he didn't leave her anything- not even a simple note. He would hope that she would wait for him, but he could never know.__

_When he went back to his family, he noticed that Haru wasn't there with them. They told him that Haru had decided to go to another town to find a woman to marry, and Aki ignored what they told him, not having an ounce of interest for his older brother's new ambitions. All he wanted to do was to divorce her. It would make his life so much easier, and the soon-to-be-divorced-couple would both be happy (he hoped)._

_As he entered the apartment in which they had lived together, he saw her as a changed woman. She had dyed her hair a Whitish colour, like the White streak in his hair that he hid from view. She had been blond all throughout their childhood together, so it was strange of him to see her like that. He knew that it was probably from all the stress he had caused her, after being away for so long. He could also see black roots, so her hair had turned a really dark colour after he had left...Aki wanted to feel guilty, but he could only think of hurrying up the meeting so he could be back with his beloved Ul.__  
_"Welcome back, Aki."_  
_"Thanks.." he said awkwardly, hating how much they sounded like a typical husband and wife. He sat down next to her, knowing that it would be harder for her to point a gun at him without him noticing or reacting at such a close proximity._  
_"So.. I heard you went by your father's first name as your surname, right?" she asked. Aki nodded, not really wanting to speak to her about his father. She saw how reluctant he seemed, so she sat up and walked over to the kitchen. They were in silence for a few minutes, the only sound coming from the clinging of the cutlery. When she had finished concocting a drink, she passed it on to him, and he took it gratefully, feeling a little parched. But what he hadn't seen was that she had put a strange pill in the water, which had discoloured it to resemble a drink of some sort. His vision became blurry, and his mind was overtaken by the pill. As he swam in his unconscious mind, he knew that his body wasn't replying to him, and was doing something he would regret. But he felt so incredibly weak, so he just drifted in peace...__

_When he got a hold of himself the following morning, he was met with a kiss from the woman who was his wife, who he had wished he had never married. She looked ecstatic, her face flushed from the several hours of intercourse they had been through. She hadn't believed that she could trick him so easily, but he had been ever trusting of his childhood friend. She hugged him, but he gently pushed her away, still groggy from the previous night, trying to recollect his memories. When his mind was clearer, he remembered how he had been unable to stop the ensuing action, and cursed himself for thinking that he could trust her. He had wanted to scream, to cry out at her and tell her that what she had done was not acceptable, and that she was evil for taking advantage of him like that. She silenced him by showing him a positive pregnancy test._

_Aki fell to the ground, perplexed. He felt his whole life crashing down on him, only blaming himself for his carelessness and how he had led his life in vengeance, which he now had to deal with as the ultimate punishment. If only he had listened to his mother, who had always told him not to go with her. Yet he hadn't listened, and was stuck in a grave dilemma. Not only because it would be harder for her to let go of him, but because his father had written their marriage contract, which had stated that if she could not make children, he could divorce her and find a new wife. But if she was born with a child, he could never divorce her and never leave her for over ten hours without his presence. Each time he did so, she would be paid a million Jewels for his actions._

_Aki knew he had screwed up. He could no longer have contact with Ul, because his wife had full control of everything he owned. No matter what he would do in the future, he could not settle this predicament. So he stayed with her. Those nine agonising months had only been a nightmare to Aki, the only bright moments in his life being next to the child as he whispered to it. Aki didn't have a preferred gender, but he hoped the child would not look similar to his wife. If it did, he did not think that he could stand looking at the child, as he could barely speak with the mother without feelings disgust. But he knew that whatever happened, he would love his child dearly and make sure that it would get the best upbringing, as well as the best father he could be for the child._

_Five weeks into the birth, the doctors had told them that it was very likely that the child would be a boy, but they weren't sure. Aki had a gut feeling that they were right, so he had started planned a name and talking more frequently to the foetus in his wife's belly, telling him funny stories about his past and how he had always had a strong relationship with his father, so he hoped that he could also have a strong relationship with him. The baby always replied my kicking the mother violently, making her curse the child. Aki simply shushed her and loved the unborn child dearly, making sure that his wife had enough food, exercise, and anything else that could help the child. He saw it as a duty as the father to do everything and provide everything for his child, and his wife never opposed. She loved to live in luxury, and she wasn't bothered to do any work. After Aki had left, the company had been collapsing because of how badly managed it was by her. She had failed her exams and even quit university after only three months, defining the courses as 'too hard'. When Aki had stepped back in, all was right again, his academic background shining through as the CEO, making the company a large profit margin, making all his relatives proud of him, and Haru even angrier at him, or so he assumed. He hadn't heard from his older brother in a while, deeming himself unfit to talk to Haru the way he was currently. But he knew that he also wanted to make amends with Haru and be the younger brother that Haru had never had, in return gaining the older brother he had always wanted..._

_2 months into the pregnancy, his wife had started to hang around a bad crowd to grab his attention, like the attention seeker she was. He would not have cared if she had not drunk alcohol and even taken drugs during one meeting with her sketchy friends. As soon as he had found out about it, he had rushed her to the hospital to save the baby, as well as make her go through rehab, preventing the same situation from happening again.__  
_"What the hell do I have to do for you not to endanger my child?!" he had whispered angrily at her during a hospital visit._  
_"Our child. And I want you to at least act like you love me, or I will endanger this child so many times that you won't be able to keep count," she said calmly. His eyes turned wide and he had started sweating at the thought of her purposely murdering his child so that she could keep him on a leash. He grunted before ruffling his hair and saying,_  
_"Fine." From that day on, he had forced himself to act more lovingly towards her, making sure to embrace her and treat her like a husband should, but avoiding kissing or sleeping in the same bed as her. It was extremely ironic to him how once, he had cherished their time together in the same bed, but now he avoided it like the plague.__

_5 months into the pregnancy, some abnormalities had started to occur. His baby heart had kept on malfunctioning, stopping for several seconds at different periods of time, scaring the doctors. They didn't know whether the baby would survive, and Aki instantly blamed his wife.__  
_"You promised not to hurt him!" he had lashed out, making sure to stay away from her so that he would not harm the child._  
_"I didn't! It must have been when the rival company had a meeting with us, and the CEO spiked my drink to hurt little Bre-"_  
_"We agreed that I will name the child, so do not call him that filthy name. And why do you only bring me misfortune?" He had started to cry in the corner, her pouting face going unnoticed. She placed her hand on his shoulder, and as he was about to slap it away, she said,_  
_"Don't worry, our child is a strong one. Nothing can defeat him, except for himself.."__

_And she had been right. After a few weeks of monitoring, he had surpassed everyone's expectations and had actually lived. When Aki had heard this, he had been over the moon, rejoicing to the world. He could feel his baby's blessing inching closer, so that he could be protected by the light of his child and escape from the hell he was trapped in...__  
_Aki had never played his guitar after he had married her, only playing it to Ul. It had been a treasured memory, and he had not wanted it tarnished by playing it for his wife, who he despised. So when she had discovered it covered in dust, he had told her that it wasn't anything important and that she could throw it away. But instead of allowing her to throw it away, he had hid it in a safe place, so one day he could teach his child how to play.__

_When she was giving birth to the child, Aki had chosen to not be there until the very last second, preferring to see his newborn's face, instead of hearing her screams from hours on end. But even with the closed door, it was torturous hearing the animal cries that emanated from her mouth as she tried to give birth to his baby. After only five hours, the little child had been born, and he had been the first one to hold the baby. His wife had never asked to touch or see the baby, and he had not wanted her to even get close to his child, so the feelings were mutual. He held him so carefully, that the doctors had had trouble trying to pry the child off his hands to clean the blood off of him. When that was finally done, he inspected his child carefully._

_Aki knew that his child would take his surname, Fullbuster. It was perfect for him, as he had the same glint in his eyes, just like his father. His child was special to him, so he wanted to call him after the situation- half bad because of how he had been brought in the world; half good, because he would be the ray in his father's rainbow; half hate, because he had been born out of Haru's hatred of Aki, which had been reciprocated, and how his mother did not even care for him; and half love, as Aki would always love his dear son called Gray, like the colour of the clouds on a turbulent day._

_Gray Fullbuster. And he would keep him away from Haru._

**Done! And again, I know it's quite short, but I did warn ya :p Next chapter is probably going to be 20k-25k, as it's chapter 50! As you know,50= 5x10 and 10 is 5x2, so it's basically because it's my favourite number ;p. It will take about two/three weeks as I will be having a half term (and I will be free from all these tests that I've been getting bombarded with!) so I can write ;D. Btw, the story ark with Aki isn't over just yet, but you'll find out soon enough ;p. Guess what guys? Today in physical education, I twisted my foot and heard a crack, so I've just been hobbling all over the place in pain, and my ten minute walk home became twenty minutes x3 The bus driver also missed my stop, so I had to walk even further...I think the pain on my foot symbolises how all the guys I liked are now taken, but because I don't feel anything, I feel pain on my foot instead xD! Anyways, have a lovely day/night my beautiful royal chibis and stay adorable ;p You can covet stuff, but do not steal from others (like hot guys/girls who have boy/girlfriends, especially if their love stories are way too cute- like childhood friends) XXXXX SIDEWAYS HUGS \\(*^-^/*)**

**~Roxanne**


	50. Tormented Souls

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: I know.. I'm sorry, I'm a lazy person xD But at least I'm writing now :p As 2015 is my year, and I don't really want to finish this story in 2016, I'll try to finish this before the end of the year (even if the last chapter may be uploaded on the 31st of December xD..). I already pretty much know the conclusion and we aren't very far away :D Thank you again for reading this and I love you all xxx. Sorry chapter 50 took so long, but stuff will happen, and I'm pretty sure it will be pretty long :p Please don't get angry at me xD..**

**Chapter L: Tormented Souls**

After quitting as an artist, Erza felt disconsolate but finally free. The burden of having everyone watching her every action as well as being controlled was gone, and she felt like she could stand up straight, instead of slouch from all the burden and pressure. She didn't think that it was a bad thing that she quit, because sometimes, walking away was the best thing. She sat on her bed, her legs crossed as she stared at the ceiling lights. They were a dim colour, so she could stare at them without blinking away from them.

Now that she was a normal high school student, she knew that she had to do something other than live life for the sake of just living it. She needed to set up new goals for herself; goals that she had always wanted to complete. She knew that she only had five big wishes. Some were from a long time ago, some even generic, but others were recent wishes of hers that she knew that had to be done. So she took her song writing journal and flipped the pages over until she was at the last page. There, she took her pen to write her checklist, making sure to draw little check boxes on each wish/ thing she had to accomplish. She didn't know how long it would take her, or if it was really even worth all the trouble. But she really wanted to do them before her life drained away from her. She knew she was very lucky to be even alive to that day, but she wasn't about to think that she would survive death just because her time hadn't come yet.

So she began writing the five most important things she had to do in her life. She looked down at the page, pleased with herself for finally having done it. She had previously tried to make one, knowing that she didn't want her life to go to waste too soon, as she had thought at the time that she would die at a much younger age. She heard the thunder from outside, before the lighting came in a torrent. She didn't know if it was foreshadowing of things that may happen, but she did not want to find out. So she numbered her checklist to show which order she would do what first. She saw the first one and smiled. It probably seemed like the easiest thing to do on the list, but Carla was a hard cat to persuade.

_1.__◻ Make Carla find love_

She called up Natsu to see if she could ask him to help her with Carla and Happy's relationship. The answer machine told her that his number didn't exist, so she got worried. She tried calling Lucy, but she wasn't replying either. What was going on with her best friends? Did they get into a fight? Determined, she made her way to Lucy and Natsu's apartment. She really hoped that there were no problems between them. After all, when Lucy had told her that she had finally gotten permission from her dad to be together, they had both been over the moon.

_"Erza!" exclaimed the hyper girl.__  
__"Calm down Lucy, what's wrong? Why are you shouting?" inquired the sceptic Erza._  
_"Erza, my dad finally agreed! Nastu and me can be together!"_  
_"Natsu and I,"_  
_"Huh?"_  
_"It's Natsu and I. That's the grammatically correct way. But I'm really happy for you!" Erza finished._  
_"Sometimes you just ruin my good mood," she sighed dramatically in a jokey way._  
_"I'm sorry Lu! Do you want to celebrate at my place? We can eat whatever you want," she said kindly. Lucy squealed happily, and Erza saw it as a yes. They met at her house at around five thirty in the afternoon, and Lucy went in for a hug. Surprised, Erza stood there contemplating what to do. _  
_"Just hug me back you stupid Titania!" and Erza hit her on her head before she hugged her friend back, making them both laugh. They sat down, wearing Erza's pyjamas and watched a sappy romance movie as they talked about her love life. _  
_"So, how did it happen?"_  
_"Well, my father wanted to finally talk to me and discuss our problems. I knew that it was unlikely, but I was hopeful for a better relationship. He told me his life story, and I finally understood what he had gone through. I couldn't know how much pain he had suffered, but I understood why he acted the way he did towards me. It doesn't justify it, but it makes more sense. So when he apologised to me, I instantly forgave him, knowing that I could never really hate my father. So I went left him to his thoughts, when I got a call from Lisanna- she told me Natsu was dead.."_  
_"What!?" Erza choked on her crisps._

_So Lucy explained the whole tragic ordeal, almost going in tears from re-living that traumatic experience. She had expected Erza to say "I'm so sorry for your loss," or something along those lines, but Erza wasn't like that. Of course she wasn't like that! It was just like the time she had talked about her mother's death._  
_"Don't feel sad forever, but convert it to rejoice their memory. They were faithful comrades that wanted to do what they thought was best, even if they had to sacrifice themselves in the process. I'm sure they are happy wherever they are, and they will always treasure the memory of both you and Lisanna," Erza said in a soothing voice. Lucy pounced on her and started hugging her tightly, making Erza blush._  
_"W-w-what are you doing!?" she asked in an embarrassed outrage. _  
_"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm hugging you because you are the best friend ever, and if I were a guy, I would ditch Natsu and fight Gray for you any day!" This made the Scarlet haired girl blush even more at her friend's confession. But she soon became a bit more composed again and hugged back her friend._  
_"Promise me that you'll never leave me?" Lucy whispered._  
_"I don't know..." Erza mumbled dejectedly. Lucy raised her head from Erza's chest and asked her to repeat what she said, but Erza just sighed and said "Never mind, let's just enjoy the movie- look! The main characters are kissing!"_

Erza didn't know why she kept remembering her past so much, but it helped calm her pounding heart. She looked into the apartment from the keyhole, but seeing nothing, she took out her spare key (because she had been given a copy of the apartment key by the couple) and walked inside. The apartment seemed cold and distant, not the warm, happy place it had once been. There were papers scattered everywhere, and debris of broken vases and plates lay on the floor. She looked at the havoc and wandered into Lucy's room first, which was also in the same state as the living room. Next, she checked Natsu's bedroom, and saw that it was quite clean. She instantly guessed that Lucy had been the one to make the mess, because she wouldn't have messed up anything of Natsu's, no matter how much she would have wanted to. She would only destroy everything about herself, and Erza knew that she had to find her friend as soon as possible to collect the fragments of her heart.

As she was about to leave the apartment, she heard a soft meowing sound. Erza looked over at where the sound was coming from, but she saw nothing. Using her investigative skills, she went in the direction of the noise. There, she saw Happy next to a food bowl with a half eaten fish. When he saw Erza, his sad meowing ceased. He gently pawed at her foot, and she gently picked Happy up.  
"Do you want to come home with me Happy?" she quietly asked. He nodded as if he understood, and she smiled happily at the cat.  
"We don't want you to not to be like your name, or you would be an oxymoron!" The cat seemed to smile, making Erza chuckle.

They walked home, and they were greeted by Carla. As soon as she saw Happy and his happy face, she started walking away." Carla, wait! He's been through a lot, so don't be mean to him!" Carla stopped in her footsteps. Erza walked up to her White furred cat and patter her slowly on her head. Happy walked behind Erza's leg, just in case Carla was about to shout at him. Instead, she walked up to him and shyly meowed. He meowed back, surprised that she was even talking to him. After all, she had always ignored his pure, heartfelt feelings of love so it was strange for her to act so kind. In cat language, she said, "I know what it feels like to be abandoned. Scared. Alone." Happy gave her a small smile, before she walked away with a snobbish ambiance around her. Erza wanting at least a friendship between the two cats, she set up a cat bed right next to Carla's. Hers was elegant and prim, while his was a fun blue with several cat toys like a ball of wool to play with. As soon as he jumped in it, he started playing, his bad mood form before completely evaporated. Carla looked at him with scorn before trying to go to sleep, but he kept on meowing happily, so Carla kept on sighing in despair. Erza chuckled at the cute cats and turned off the lights, making secret plans while she tried to sleep.

"Could you shut up!" Carla meowed at Happy. He suddenly stopped and stared at her. For some reason, his eyes started to become glassier and were struggling to stay open. Before Carla could scold him more, he started sobbing quietly, curling in on himself. Shocked, she heard the Blue cat's quiet sobs. Baffled, Carla tried to think of a way to approach him. But she still wanted to keep her cold personality, or others would see her as weak. She buried her head on the cushions and tried to ignore the pitiful cat's cries, but she just couldn't. Slowly, she walked over to him and placed her head next to his, pretending to sleep. He instantly stopped crying, only blushing hard. Her soft rhythmic breathing calmed him down, and he also fell asleep. He had wanted to ask her why she was being so kind to him, but just knowing someone was next to him made all his worries go away. He had never liked to be alone in dark places, and being in unfamiliar territory made him a bit apprehensive of everything. He had never told anyone, not wanting to be seen as weak, but the emotions had just piled up and he knew that he couldn't hold on to them anymore. He had tried to be as quiet as possible, but Carla had still managed to hear him. He felt closer to her than before, and his little heart pitter-pattered him to sleep.

When Erza woke up, she woke up to the adorable sight of the two cats sleeping together on his cat bed. Usually, Carla only ever slept inside hers. She didn't even like sleeping with Erza, as she always meowed loudly, Erza assuming that she meant that there wasn't enough space for them both. So when she saw Carla sleeping so closely to Happy, Erza couldn't help but think that they would eventually turn into a couple. She left milk got them in a bowl, as she had never needed spare bowls until now. When the White cat woke up, she clawed aggressively at the Blue cat, meowing that he had crept in her bed and was completely violating her privacy. Not remembering the events of the previous night, she just senselessly attacked poor Happy as he could say nothing in return, only wanting to protect himself.

Knowing that Carla needed a walk as she was growing lazy, and that she also needed to reflect on current events, Erza took both the cats out on a walk. It was a natural occurrence that happened every week, and Carla walked the path like an expert, while Happy held back a bit at the unfamiliar streets. As Erza trusted both cats, she didn't put any leashes on them. However, she didn't think that Happy was bad at navigation as when she and Carla stopped to sit down for a bit, he seemed to have disappeared. While Carla seemed a bit panicked, Erza just sighed a bit and patted Carla's head saying, "Please go find him. I trust you Carla," with one of her beautiful smiles. Carla walked away with a worried look on her face, retracing her steps, while Erza spotted a familiar face. She waved at them with a bittersweet smile, and they waved back.

On Carla's search to find the lost cat, she used the secret cat society's tunnels to try and find him. As she walked through the underground path, she met Panther Lily. Surprised to see him using the secret cat society's tunnels, she asked him why he was using it all of a sudden. He started blushing, and she looked at him as if he was a being from another planet. She was about to ask, "What the hell is wrong with you?" but he interrupted her thoughts by saying, "I actually have a girlfriend, and she always likes to play hide and seek with me here, so I'm trying to find her. Do you have a boyfriend you are looking for? Is that why you look a bit lost?" Disgraced, Carla blushed away from his shining face. How dare he insinuate that she and Happy were a couple! "No," was the only thing she said to him in her frustration. He raised his eyebrows but said nothing. As he was about to walk away, knowing that he had ruined Carla's fragile mood, she meowed at him to wait.  
"What do you need?" he asked in a cheerful voice.  
"Do you know where Happy is?" she asked, having little hope. She had searched for him for over an hour, and she couldn't find him anywhere. Every second she breathed more heavily from exhaustion and the thought that he could be in any sort of danger. It scared her that her last words would probably be something harsh she had said to him.

"Isn't he at his house? That's where I saw him anyway.." he said before contently whistling to himself as he tried to find his missing girlfriend. Carla slapped herself lightly on the cheek at her stupidity for not realising that Happy would of course go back to the place he had once been. Instead of the usual pain that came with slapping oneself, she had accidentally scratched herself with her sharp claws. Ignoring the stinging, she prowled quickly to Natsu and Lucy's house. She entered the cat flap, only to find it empty and desolate. The dark ambiance made Carla shiver, as she had never seen the small apartment look so drab and not lively. Spotting Blue fur, she slowly sneaked up on him, hoping he wasn't crying again. Surprisingly, she saw that he wasn't crying, but just staring at a picture of his master and his girlfriend.

"They look so happy, don't they?" Happy said, startling her. She had been in the process of walking toward him, and she stood at her spot, one paw away from him, wondering where the conversation would take them.  
"They do," she whispered, scared to break the silent atmosphere. In fact, the couple looked blissful as they were in a picture celebrating Erza's sixteenth Birthday along with the other teenagers.  
"Seems so long ago, even though it was only a few months ago..." Happy mumbled. She prowled closer to him until they were sitting side by side, their shoulders almost touching.  
"What happened between them?" she asked courageously, not wanting to beat around the bush.  
"Natsu, my best friend, left and he didn't tell her until he was gone. He told me to keep her safe while he was away for a little bit, and that I should forgive him... But honestly, I don't forgive him- he just abandoned Lucy and I!" He screamed in protest at the end, showing his true emotions. His tears were coming out and he kept on pawing at his eyes, wiping the cascading tears away. Carla didn't want him to accidentally scratch himself, so she stopped his paw with her own. Looking at her, he was shocked to see a scratch mark on her face.

"What happened to you? Did anyone hurt you?! Tell me who it is!" the Blue cat persisted in a worried voice. Carla giggled, happy to see him have an expression that didn't seem so lost.  
"I accidentally scratched myself, it's nothing. But why did you come back here? Aren't you happy with Erza and I?" she questioned in a slightly hurt voice. Happy started stuttering; only making her giggle more. "I-i-it's just that, I know why my master left and it's not just because he wanted to follow a dream..." At this, Carla became curious, and waited for him to explain.. And he did.

\\(*^-^*)/

"Hello Erza," she said in a sad, contemplative voice.  
"Hi Lucy," she smiled sadly at her best friend. Looking at her, Erza saw someone who was lonely and didn't know what to do.  
"How have you been?" Lucy asked, not knowing the situation between Gray and Erza.  
"... I guess I'm suffering. I haven't seen Gray in so long, and he refuses to talk to him. I don't know how to reach him, and he hates me now all because of something so stupid.." Perplexed, Lucy stopped looking dejected and instead felt really shocked and apologetic.  
"Erza, what happened? I'm so sorry, I never knew that you and Gray were broken up..." she said, tears in her voice. Erza began comforting her friend, but Lucy shook her head and wanted her friend to continue talking.  
"It was kinda like a movie... Meeting where we first caught a glimpse of each other, now two broken people instead of the friends we used to be.. I should have never kissed him back, or even just said it was a friendly kiss! Maybe we would still be talking right now!" Erza said, her throat feeling blocked and her breath short and quick, as if she had been running for a long time. She covered her eyes, hoping that she wouldn't have to cry yet again.  
"Erza, why did he break up with you? He was so in love with you! If he doesn't explain properly, he can fuck off and go die in a ditch for all I care! You are the best thing that's ever happened to him, and he lets you go just like that, what a jackass!" Lucy vented, making Erza giggle behind her hands instead of almost cry.  
"I..I don't know," she hiccupped honestly, not entirely believing his last words to her. She knew that she had been busy with her work, but she had always tried to make time for him and include him in her everyday life. There wasn't one day when they didn't talk or at least text each other, and the world has seemed so vivid and full of colour. But now, her rose coloured dream was no longer there, and all she could see was the city in monotone. She knew he was her everything, but she couldn't help but hate him for leaving her. She also hated herself for still being so infatuated with him, wanting him back in her life. She didn't trust herself anymore to feel any feelings for him, as him breaking up with her had made her feel like it was all a delusion, and that maybe her feelings had been made up to just please him.  
"Erza, please stop.." whispered her best friend, knowing exactly what her friend was going through. She saw the doubt in her eyes and the way she second guessed her emotions. Lucy had done it several times after Natsu had left her, and she still didn't know why he couldn't take her with him.  
"Why should I? All I've done is love him and hope to live together with him for the rest of my stupid fucking life, but then he just leaves me with a kiss on the cheeks and tells me it wasn't to be? After everything we had gone through, all the laughter, the pain, the sadness and the chocolate scented moments we spent together, he says 'Goodbye forever' as if I'll never be able to see him again! But I will find him and I will kick him in the fucking balls so that he realises what a stupid retarded yankee he is and then he will have to take me back!" Lucy started laughing light heartedly at her friend using so many swear words in one speech.  
"I don't think I've ever heard you swear Erza!" she squealed, trying to hold in her laughter as she still had a murderous look in her eyes.  
"There's many things that surprise even myself. And anyway, it's Gray's fault, he was a bad influence on me," and the two girls giggled.  
"I'm sorry for being selfish, what happened with you and Natsu?" Erza asked politely. Lucy sighed, not really wanting to focus on herself.  
"Natsu left me to become a vigilante with his father..." Erza stared in surprise at her friend.  
"What?!"  
"That's exactly how I felt, Erza.. I didn't even get to persuade him to stop; he just left me like that. He said to follow my calling and that he would hopefully come back one day, but what if I don't want to do it? What if I don't want to find the Twelve Zodiacs?! What if the only person I want to find is the guy I want to marry, that stupid Salmon haired Natsu?!" Erza hugged her friend, hoping to give her some sort of comfort. After the hug, they both sat silently for a few minutes, reflecting on the other's problems. Finally, Erza spoke up,  
"How about this? You give me advice on what I should do with Gray, and I give you advice on what you should do with Natsu, and whatever the other says, we follow, deal?" Lucy nodded in approval, glad to have such a sincere, smart friend.  
"Do you want to go first Lucy?"  
"Yep," she smiled kindly. "Ok, what you should do is that you should try to find Gray and tell him your true feelings and-" she started, but Erza interrupted her.  
"No, that's not possible yet. I don't think I can face him..."  
"Erza! Fine... Instead, try to do what you wish for and follow your dreams, and then try to talk to Gray, to show that you have improved yourself and that you do want to be with him," she ended simply. Erza nodded in approval at her friend's advice, knowing that it was probably the best way to approach the situation.  
"Okay, my turn now!"  
"Yes, oh great Titania, please give me your insightful words of wisdom," she mock bowed down to Erza, which made Erza chuckle a little.  
"I think that you should follow Natsu's advice and try to find the Zodiacs, as they are in great danger from the Underground organisations right now, even though they are supposed to be protected citizens. You have the sense to find them, and they are easily attracted towards you because they feel safe when they are with you. Even if you may not want to do it, Natsu knows that it was a destined role for you. He has only ever cared about you, so when he comes back, he will come back and he will get back together with you."  
"Ah, Erza! Why are you being so boring and diplomatic? I was expecting something like- hunt him down and make sure he pays!" She said in a ridiculously low pitch, making Erza lift an eyebrow at her.  
"What?" Lucy asked innocently, with a dumbfounded look on her face.  
"I'll forgive you for now, but don't expect me to help you when you need help."  
"Erza, don't be like that! And anyways, I never ask for help from you, so stop acting so high and mighty! And anyways, I'm bored of this sad atmosphere, so let's play a fun game!"  
"Fine..." Erza pouted.  
"The game is called.. 'I remember'. You start your sentence like that and then you continue on with a memory of the guy you like, okay?"  
"Okay, I'll start first. I remember that when I was sick one day, and my throat was sore...

_Erza woke up with a bad cold that morning. It had all been that stupid Raven haired fool! After spending some time together, she had realised that he was sick, so she had tried to sit farther away from him. This had annoyed him, so he had tried to crawl closer and closer to her, finally ending up kissing her full on the mouth, making her slap him and storm off. And now she was sick, but she had a performance the next day. She tried to do vocalisation practice, but all she could do was make small squeaking sounds. She went downstairs to drink some tea, only to see a body sprawled on her couch. Carefully. she walked closer to them, a knife in hand from the kitchen, just in case the individual was dangerous.__  
__"Who are you!?" she screamed, making the hooded individual sleeping on her couch wake up, completely startled. But instead of seeing the face of some criminal, she saw the face of the man who had kissed her just the previous night._  
_"Erza, I know that in your eyes I'm so handsome that you want to murder me and keep my body looking this beautiful forever, but I'm not in the mood for your jokes," he said in a sleepy way as he rubbed his eyes cutely. Erza's knife dropped from her hand as she resolved in punching his face instead._  
_"What the hell are you doing in my house, and how did you get it?!"_  
_"You gave me a spare key, remember? And anyway, I wanted to see my beautiful future wife sick, so I could take care of her and do naughty things with her," he murmured sleepily as he winked at her and bit his lip in a seductive way. As her face turned red, she also prepared herself to give him another punch._  
_"Wait, stop! I got it! Geez, I can't even mess around with my girlfriend.. But yeah, I did come to nurse you back to health, since I feel bad. You have a performance tomorrow, right? Then c'mon, let's go to your room." Instead of allowing her to walk alone to her room, he grabbed her waist and carried her to her room, dropping her on her bed so that she bounced a few times._  
_"Could you stop being so rough?!"_  
_"Like how I could be with you in bed?" he sneakily whispered. Having very good hearing, Erza threw a pillow violently at him, disgusted still by his perverted mind._  
_"Ouch!" he screamed cutely._  
_"You're so cute when you're not being a jerk," she giggled, before coughing. He gently patted her back and made her rest as he produced a cup of tea and honey in a few minutes. She sipped it quietly as she worried about whether she was overworking him. After all, he was still sick from the previous night. _  
_"Gray, aren't you cold?" she asked, looking at his long, sleeveless shirt which showed his perfectly muscular body._  
_"I guess, but you didn't care about that when you tried to murder me with a knife!"_  
_"Hey! Stop being so hung up on it, I'm sorry..." she mumbled quietly. He caressed her cheek gently, making her involuntarily shiver at his cold touch. But she didn't flinch away, because she was used to his loving touch._  
_"Gray, do you want to get in the bed with me?" At her question, Gray stood paralysed in front of her, wondering whether what she had said was a figment of his imagination, or whether the girlfriend who hated PDA actually said those words. As soon as he realised what she had said, he jumped in the bed, making her laugh loudly. He started kissing her softly on her lips, moving slowly down to her neck as she grabbed a handful of hair._  
_"Gray, stop! This isn't what I mean when I said to get in my bed! I just don't want you to feel cold!" Hearing her words, he pulled away from her and looked deeply into her eyes, making a sad face to try and steer her away from her original plan. But if Erza was good at something, it was being firm, so she gently slapped him in the face and turned away from him. Wanting to be defiant, he hugged her from behind, and they soon fell asleep blissfully. When Erza woke up three hours before her performance, she noticed Gray was still holding her waist. She gently took his arms off her and lightly kissed him on the forehead, whispering, "I'll be back soon Raven..." And Gray's company hadn't been useless, as her voice had returned thanks to him taking care of her._

"Aww, you two are so cute!" Lucy started slapping her friend in the back.  
"Stop hitting me! What's wrong with you?!" Erza said severely, but her friend wasn't scared anymore, so she continued doing so. "If you aren't going to stop, at least continue with the game!" she shouted, annoyed at her friend. Lucy clapped her hands together, as if she had just solved the hardest puzzle in the world.  
"Let me talk! Okay, I remember when..."

_Lucy had just finished publishing her new blog post talking about some juicy gossip involving two students in her school. It had been such a shock when she had acquired that piece of news that she had immediately celebrated as soon as the shock had worn off. The news was that a guy had finally confessed to the girl he liked. Doesn't seem too interesting, right? Wrong! The thing was that they had been childhood friends for a very long time, but because of circumstances like always dating other people when the other was single made them hold back. But when they were finally both single, she had tried to set them up in a situation that would cause them to date no matter what. And when it did work, she was probably the happiest person about it. But Lucy had misjudged something critical. In fact, they weren't both single, but the girl had a boyfriend at the time. When she had broken up with that boyfriend, he had gone on a rampage and almost killed the guy, who was in hospital with critical injuries. Feeling like it was all her fault, Lucy had felt hopeless and had even tried to apologise to the family of both parties, but they wouldn't listen to her petty excuses. They only saw her as their son's murderer, even though she had not committed the deed. Natsu had noticed his girlfriend being down in the dumps and not very responsive. He had told himself to not disturb her too much, as all his friends had told him that he was acting too clingy with her. But he couldn't resist being her shoulder to cry on, because he wanted to protect her at all costs.__  
__"Luce, what's wrong?" he asked in a worried tone._  
_"I ruined everything Natsu! I was just trying to help those two finally get together, but I only caused them to both get hurt!" cried a desperate Lucy._  
_"Luce, it's okay. I can fix this, just tell me exactly what happened." So she explained to him the whole story, not holding back anything. She had finally been able to pour out her heart to someone, because the pain of keeping it in while suffering alone had been suffocating and unbearable. She had seen Natsu trying to keep his distance from her, which had made her even more depressed in the past few days. She had wished those two people to be together mostly so Natsu would praise her for being such a caring person, but it had completely back fired, and now he was the one trying to mend everything together. So they both went to the hospital together, where the parents were waiting anxiously._  
_"What the hell do you want now? Haven't you done enough already? Just fuck off!" angrily shouted the father. Natsu looked furious, and Lucy was afraid he might attack the man, but instead, he kept his composure._  
_"Excuse me sit, but that isn't the way to speak to a lady, especially if that girl is my girlfriend. While she may have been what led up to your son's injured, it was not her fault that it happened. It was simply an accident, and she shouldn't be blamed for it, but the man who attacked your son. After all, she was just trying to guarantee his happiness. Please listen to her apology, instead of shutting her out," he said solemnly before bowing in a respectful manner. Seeing him being so subservient for her sake made Lucy almost cry, but she knew that he was doing all this for her, so she also bowed her head. Seeing their respect, the mother asked Lucy to explain exactly what happened. And Lucy did, including how she had not meant for it to result that way, as she had only wanted to support their love. When she had finished, the parents could only look at the couple apologetically, as if saying that they were completely in the wrong. They asked for forgiveness from Lucy, and she graciously accepted it. When they had finished speaking to the parents, they went to the hospital room which he was in, and they saw his girlfriend crying next to his bed. Lucy rushed to her side and tried to console her, but she shook her away. Once again, Natsu intervened by telling the whole story and showing that Lucy didn't really bear too much fault. Listening to Natsu's trustworthy tone, she understood why Lucy had tried to help her. Feeling bad, she quickly hugged her, begging for forgiveness and saying her thanks from the bottom of her heart. After all that mental stress, Natsu and Lucy could finally go home. Hand in hand, they walked in the lit streets, laughing at some silly jokes that Natsu had told her._  
_"Thank you for always having my back Natsu..." Lucy said, before feeling soft lips on hers. _  
_"For you, always," he said with a smile that melted her heart._  
_"Since when were you so cheesy! Oh my gosh Natsu!" she said, covering her blushing face. He poked out his tongue in a playful way and said,_  
_"I guess Gray has been teaching me some of his tricks!"_  
_"Usually I would slap that guy, but he taught you well, so I'm just going to have to kiss you," she said before kissing him on the lips, her heart imploding like fireworks._

"He's always been there for you, huh?" Erza said quietly. Lucy hummed in approval, daydreaming at her memories. The two girls talked for a bit before Lucy got a phone call from her father, and they had to part soon after. Erza looked up at the sky, the sun blinding her eyes as she tried to figure out whether she was doing the right thing. Before she could think more deeply, she heard meows from her feet. She looked down to see the two cats who had gone missing for a few hours. She started caressing their furs lovingly, saying, "You two have been gone for an awfully long time. Don't tell me you were secretly on a date?" she asked in a curious manner, making her cat turn away from her in embarrassment, while Happy seemed to be delighted.

They quietly walked home, and Erza fell asleep quickly once again. Instead of sleeping in her cat bed, Carla sneakily slept in Happy's one. This time, they did quietly talk among themselves longer.  
"Is what you told me today really true?" she asked in a whisper.  
"Yeah..." he mumbled, trying not to feel guilty for saying Natsu's secret.  
"I can't believe he didn't tell anyone..."  
"But if he did, everyone would judge him and feel afraid of him, but there is nothing to be afraid of. He's always treated me well," rebuked Happy.  
"I know! But what if someone finds out? Wouldn't they arrest him?!" she said a little too loudly.  
"Ssh! What if she wakes up!?" said a worried Happy.  
"Sorry.. But how could he only remember now? Wouldn't it have crossed his mind several times?!"  
"He blocked it out... It wasn't his fault.."  
"Then what about his real dad?"  
"He's probably dead, but if he is alive, he will probably target Natsu, and Natsu won't be ready for him..."  
"No!... You can't be saying that he would ki-"  
"Probably, yeah. But if he goes with Dragneel, he will be much safer. That's what I believe at least," Happy sighed.  
"I can't believe Natsu is the son of a murderer..."  
"But he did it to protect others!"  
"He still took the lives of others! And even Natsu had to be immersed in his life, and now his hands are tainted with blood!" Carla screamed. Erza woke up at the sound of Carla's scream, worried that something may have happened to her.

"What's wrong Carla?!" Erza rushed to the cat bed were they were both lying. Seeing both their widened eyes, Erza began suspecting something was up.  
"What happened?" she said quietly so she wouldn't startle them. They both shook their heads, as if to say they didn't need anything. But Erza could see that they were in fact hiding something, but there was no way she would ever know if she talked to them, as she couldn't communicate with cats. She went back to bed, but she felt more awake than ever knowing that something was up.

"Now look at what you did! She knows that something is up!" Happy whispered angrily at Carla. She looked like she was about to cry, but she had a defiant look on her face.  
"I-I-I know that I shouldn't have talked to loudly, but I think that she should know! After all, she wants to be a lawyer, so she would be able to defend him..." Happy saw in her eyes that she was saying the truth and couldn't stay mad at her. He lightly kissed her cheek and coolly said, "Come and sleep next to me." Shyly, she complied and slept next to him, ending another stressful day.

Erza finally fell asleep, but she was greeted with something she hadn't had in while- a nightmare. She could only see blood covering her vision, and a woman on the floor who was bleeding to death. Her face was surprised, as if she had been unexpectedly killed. And next to her body, was an imposing figure with a creepy smile on his face, but his face was too blurry to see anything. Next to him, there was a little child with Salmon hair, who looked frightened by the blood on his hands, as well as the knife he was holding. He started to scream, but the man held his massive hands on the child's mouth to stop him from speaking. Just like that, the nightmare ended, and Erza felt her body being damp from sweat. She realised with dismay that the young child who held the knife was none other than the missing teenager- Natsu. She tried to think of a plausible explanation that wasn't incriminating in his circumstance, but she could think of nothing. Therefore, she got off her bed and started researching for unsolved cases in the police files. Surprisingly, she came across an article that talked about a woman who had been stabbed once in the gut and had bled to death, and the strange circumstances of her death was that near her body, there had been an adult male as well as a young boy's bloody footprints. With a pang, she realised that it must have been what had happened in her dream. Feeling herself go faint, she saw her eyesight go blurry as she began to faint.

_Not again..._

Carla jumped on Erza's bed the next morning, wanting to share the news that Happy had kissed her on the cheek. She knew that her mistress would be happy for her, but when she realised that there was no one on the bed, she searched around the room. Seeing her sleeping on her computer desk, she approached her with a smile. But when she saw that she wasn't breathing, she rushed on top of the desk, trying to nuzzle at her in hope that she would wake up.  
"Erza, please wake up!" she meowed continuously. After a lot of persistence, she finally woke up. She had a glazed look on her eyes, and Carla could see that Erza couldn't see anything. Erza could hear the meows, but she couldn't see her beloved cat. She felt around the desk until she could finally feel soft fur on her fingers.  
"Sigh.. It's happened again Carla. I'm so sorry, I couldn't get better..."  
"Don't blame yourself! Please, it's not your fault!" cried Carla desperately. She hadn't expected it to happen again. She knew that in the past, Erza going blind happened frequently, but the doctors had said that it would stop because she was getting better. She feared for her mistress' health, as she knew that her going blind was a sign that she was getting worse. Erza blinked a few times before closing her eyes completely, wishing for her eyesight to come back. She slowly opened her eyes and she could finally see the warm light of the sunlight shining through her window, as well as her cat Carla. She smiled happily at her, and Carla jumped in her arms, glad that she could see again.

Knowing that she couldn't just stay in the house, as she had mysteries to solve, she took the two cats on a walk. While getting outside the gate, a girl started squealing her name.  
"Oh my goodness, it's Erza! Erza! Erza, please look at me!" she screamed. Erza turned to face the voice, and she saw a young looking Bluenette with a young boy. She realised the young boy was Romeo, a neighbour of hers, but she didn't know who the girl was. She rushed to Erza and bowed deeply, showing her utter respect for her. "Who do we have here, Romeo?" asked Erza happily. Romeo scratched his hair sleepily and said, "This is Wendy. She's a bit new here, as you can see.."  
"I'm also your biggest fan! I was so sad when you said that you wouldn't make any more music! I bought all your merchandise and watched all your interviews and anything you were in, and you were always so gracious and kind, as well as strong and epic!" gushed Wendy. Erza could feel herself blushing at all the praise, and she thanked the young fan. When she looked down to see the two cats, Wendy squealed happily.  
"Aww! They are so cute!"  
"Do you want to pet them?" She asked Wendy. Wendy nodded vigorously, and Erza gave her the go-ahead. Erza asked the two children whether they could take care of the cats, as she had important business to attend to. They gladly accepted, and as she was walking away, she winked at Romeo in a suggestive way, as if telling him to try and put the moves on Wendy. He immediately blushed, and she chuckled at young love.

Firstly, she went to the PC cafe to buy airport tickets. When that was done, she went to the police station. She inquired about the case of the woman who was stabbed. While she had been able to hack into the police records at home, she hadn't been able to see the classified information. As previously stated, Erza had very good connections in the police department, as she had expressed an interest in a career in law since she was young. They instantly allowed her to check the files and she read a familiar name. She was surprised to know that it was none other than the name of Jellal's deceased mother. But what did Natsu have to do with Jellal's mother? She walked back home, perplexed.

Seeing the two children playing with the cats made her worries evaporate as she saw how close they were with each other. Happy and Carla were even working together to win the game, even though before Clara hadn't even wanted to acknowledge his existence. At the end of the game, she saw Carla kiss him on the cheek, and she felt like she had successfully completed her mission.

Once at home, she wrote down a few notes on what she thought happened on that unfortunate night. She knew that Jellal's mother had been killed by Natsu. There was no other way to phrase it. It may have possibly been influenced by his father, as Natsu had no motive to work with Natsu. But then that would mean his father had a motive, and there was only one reason why he would kill an innocent woman. Erza felt a pang of anger as she realised that he had been assigned to kill Jellal's mother by the only man who had wanted to get rid of her- Haru. If he killed this time, it was possible that he was a contract killer who worked for Haru, as well as other influential people. If that was so, then Natsu was in a lot of danger. Erza swore to herself that she would protect Natsu in court when he came back, even if it cost her her life. She slept in bed, having a definite plan. She woke up early in the morning and put the two cats in a basket. She walked slowly with her hood up, relishing the cool morning breeze on her face.

She left the basket on Romeo's doorstep, leaving a letter which said,  
"Please take care of these two. I need to do something important, and I won't be able to take care of them. Please ask Wendy to take care of them well, since I know your parents are allergic to cats. Good luck and don't worry so much about me, okay? I've seen the way you walk to my house every morning trying to get in to talk to me, but you always chicken away. Leaving the music industry doesn't mean that I'm still not making music; it's just that I'm taking a break from it. Stay happy and bye!"

And the reason why Erza was in such a hurry was because her second wish was this:

_2\. □ Travel_

This was the generic wish that she had always wanted to accomplish. It had seemed like a foolish wish when she had been younger, but as soon as she knew what it felt to be trapped in a hospital room for what seemed to be an eternity.

_Erza breathes through her oxygen mask, trying to make sure to even her breathing so that her parents don't get too worried. They stare at their daughter as if they have almost given up on her recovery, but she tries to smile for them. When they leave, she feels herself suffocating- she feels like the walls are getting closer and trapping her in that room. She had been in her hospital bed for almost three weeks, but no one was telling her how her progression was going. She assumed it wasn't going very well, or they would have allowed her to walk outside and play like the other children. The room seemed cold and stoic, there were no toys littered on the ground, or any decorations which would have indicated it was a child's room. Instead, it felt like a room for the dead, were everyone prepared themselves to face the consequences of her illness. She promised herself that if she ever got to see daylight again, she would explore as much of the world as possible, not restricting herself to Fiore, but other enchanting and beautiful places that existed outside of that enclosed space. By what seemed to be a miracle, the next day, Erza felt herself slowly getting better. Her parents were there for her, encouraging her back to health as she fought the illness with all her strength. Finally, after only seven days of intense muscle therapy to get her body functioning again, she was allowed to leave the hospital. But by that time, she had also forgotten her dream to set flight and explore the world. Instead, she became content with staying in Fiore, her ambitious adventurer's spirit gone. After her parents had left her to find a cure for her, she had hated travelling even more as it was what had taken her parents away from her. But in reality, she knew that it was her illness that caused them to go away, making her despise herself even more. There had been a long period of self loathing, but she had finally snapped out of it when she had seen in her dreams a beautiful silhouette of a singing Raven haired boy. It had been a bit before she had been trapped in his mind [refer to chapter 4], when she had fallen asleep in deep thought. As if to cast all the demons away, she had heard a soulful young voice, one of only a small boy who was around her age, as if he had been comforting her. She had felt herself watching him, but she was sure that he could not see her. When she tried to get closer to see his face, she felt herself being stuck to the ground. The blur got darker as the silhouette got further away, and all she could hear in the end were the final notes he sang beautifully to her...__  
__"You'll be okay."_

Erza entered the airport in disguise, knowing that even though she had quit being a singer, she had gotten quite popular with the masses, and her Scarlet hair made her even more recognisable. She wore her army jacket and pulled her hair up in a snapback, making sure to look down on the floor. But when she had to check her luggage weight, the woman checking her password looked at her as soon as she recognised her name. Erza made a signal for her to stay quiet, not wanting others to notice her. The woman bowed formally and became extremely friendly with her, asking if she needed any assistance, or if she wanted to be moved to business/economy class. While she could have chosen to buy tickets for business class, Erza was very conservative about her money, so she liked to choose the cheapest option when possible. As soon as the plane arrived, she got on it, hoping that she was in a two seater rather than a three seater, so she would not have to be squished when the person was trying to go to the bathroom. Surprisingly, no one was sitting beside her, so she sat on the window seat, admiring the view of the plane wings. A shadow was visible in her peripheral vision and she looked up to see that there was in fact the person who was supposed to sit next to her. What she didn't expect to see was a familiar face.  
"Madam," she heard the soft but strong voice of the female.  
"Virgo," she whispered quietly with a smile on her face. Virgo sat in the seat next to Erza, completely silent. Erza knew that she wouldn't say anything until she was spoken to, so she said,  
"It's good to see you,"  
"You too miss. How have you been? Oh... I'm sorry, that was rude of me. I ask you how you are even though we both know the illness never went away," Virgo apologised with her head bowed, but it looked funny to Erza because her head was touching the seat in front of hers.  
"It's fine, don't worry. Virgo, please sit up. And I've been feeling better every day!" she lied, hoping that the maid wouldn't realise.  
"Really? I'm glad to hear that miss. Have you been in hospital recently?"  
"Yes, but only to have checkups," she lied again while feeling guilty. Virgo nodded with her usual facial expression before she closed her eyes as if to rest.

_Erza had known Virgo from when she was a child. When her illness had been at its worst, her parents had been too heartbroken to see her suffering, so they had called a maid to help her. That maid had been in fact a very young girl, only a bit older than her. She had always been kind to Erza, even though she had wondered why she never smiled. To make her happy, she had tried telling her several jokes and doing silly things, so that even just a little, she would smile. It had all been unsuccessful, and Erza had promised herself that one day she would see the girl smile. After a few months passed and she had made a miraculous recovery yet again, she had taken Virgo out on a trip. Virgo had looked disinterested, only wishing to protect her mistress. But Erza had finally found out what Virgo was good at. A few days before, Erza had gone to the park with Virgo to dig in the sand pit, Virgo had actually joined her, and Erza suspected she had even seen a small smile from her, but because they had only been able to spend a considerably short time there, her smile had quickly disappeared. So Erza had tirelessly decided to make a treasure hunt for her good friend, making sure to hide the pieces of the puzzle deeply inside the terrain to lengthen her digging time. So the day was spent digging for the pieces of the map finding the treasure, Virgo saying that she would do everything because Erza would tire easily from her illness when in fact it was because she loved digging. Erza saw how efficient she was and how well she did it. In less than an hour they had finished, even though it had taken over twenty days to prepare it all. But she had been very happy seeing the maid dig. But that day, Virgo had been given a new post, as her family felt like they no longer needed her, and there was another young mistress who needed her help. Even though it saddened Erza, she knew that Virgo and her were not the type of girls to cry, so they waved with smiles on their faces. She had hoped that no matter what, Virgo would keep her smile._

"So who did you work for after you left?" Erza asked curiously.  
"I worked for a man named Mr. Heartfilia, who had a young daughter who was the same age as you. She got in a lot of trouble, and liked to spend her time with anyone else but her father. But she was a good kid, so it was easy working for her," Virgo slightly smiled at the memories. Erza had wanted to ask whether it could have possibly been her friend Lucy, but she had been interrupted by the air stewardess asking passengers if they wanted food. She sighed a little before plugging in her headphones and playing a melody she had composed a few days ago. It was a sweet melody, maybe a bit melodramatic, but she loved it. For a few days, she had been trying to write lyrics to the melody. But her mind had been preoccupied with other thoughts, so she hadn't been able to think of anything. She was slowly lulled into sleep as she wrote lyrics in her head. Like the kind person she was, Virgo asked a stewardess to give her a blanket for her former mistress. Because Erza was sleeping, she started smiling a lot to herself as she felt really happy for her. She had seen how hard working she had been to enter into the music industry, making new songs almost every week and staying true to herself and her lyrics, not allowing anyone to mess with her. She had felt sad that at the end of her career, she had seemed a lot sadder and more closed off than when she started, as if the company were telling her to do things she was unwilling to. When she finally revealed the truth about Haru, they had all been really surprised and she had understood her dejected expression during events. She had loved every single one of her songs and hoped that she would soon go back to doing what he loved without the pressure of being forced to do anything that she didn't want to.

When Erza woke up, she saw that the seat beside her was empty. In fact, all the seats were empty, and she realised that she was the only one left inside the plane. Quickly, she hurried to pack all her stuff and get out of the plane before they took off while she was still inside. Luckily, she got out of the plane and she was able to get to her destination- Bosco. Other than the airport, there was nothing modern about the place. In fact, it was just a country with woodland. But Erza knew there were several beautiful sights there and she would thoroughly enjoy herself just hiking and breathing in fresher air. In fact, she felt like the air was so much cleaner in comparison to a city. She spent several days there, before again going on a plane to go all around the world. She went to places like Iceberg, The Principality of Veronica, Desertio, Isvan, Caelum and more. Meeting new people, tasting new foods, enjoying a culture was all she had wanted to do, and she had finally accomplished that. But now she knew that it was the time to be serious again, so she did the one thing she knew she had wanted to do along with going all over the world- meeting her parents. It had been years since she had been able to physically see them in person and hug them. She had missed them so much, and she knew that they were working hard on finding a cure, but all she cared about was being with them, even if it was in her last days of life. She didn't care about dying as long as she could spend it with loved ones.

_3\. □ Find my parents_

She knew that they were in the largest country, the Pergrande Kingdom. She had asked several people if they had seen her parents during her travels, and they had all talked about two tall people who resembled the good things they had done for the people there and how they had always been finding a cure for her made Erza feel truly blessed to have parents like them. She had gotten two sources of valuable information telling her that her parents where either in Alakitasia or Ishgar, which were two very different places. But on a hunch, she had guessed that her parents were most likely in Ishgar because Alakitasia was a cold, icy country that was almost inhabitable, so there was a very small population there. Seeing as they had been travelling for years, they would have already covered the entire area were it was populated. Since Ishgar was densely populated, she knew that would take a longer searching time so that her parents could talk to more people. Knowing that they weren't in all the other countries she had been to, by process of elimination, she knew they where in the Pergrande Kingdom. After all, she was her parent's daughter, so she would obviously search the most lowly populated first before going to the places with a higher concentration of people.

Once in Pergrande, she marvelled at how enormous everything looked there. From the skyscrapers, to the statues, to even the people, who towered over her. But Erza was on a mission to find her parents, so she stopped sightseeing and got to business. She searched and searched, asking doctors all over the country if they had seen her parents. They all had, and they had told her where they had spotted them, or whether they had seen them again. Erza had felt like a detective, putting a timeline together as she tried to get closer to finding them. Then suddenly, she had received a call from someone. It was none other than Virgo, who was still apparently in Bosco.  
"Hello miss, how have you been coping?" Virgo asked, a hint of worry in her usually monotone voice.  
"I'm good thank you, why?" she asked, a bit worried herself.  
"I am assuming that you haven't heard the news then. A couple has been arrested for trying to obtain an illegal substance in the Pergrande Kingdom. But everyone is feeling pity for them, as they are saying that it's for their daughter..." Erza realised where she was going with her sentence. She felt herself face palm at the idiocy of her parents.  
"Thank you for telling me," she said gratefully, glad that Virgo was always looking out for her.  
"You are very welcome miss," she said before almost hanging up. But Erza was a very curious girl, so she hurriedly asked,  
"Virgo! What is your current employment?" She knew that her friend still wore her maid clothes (from when they had met on the plane), but she didn't think that she still had the same career.  
"I work at a construction company," she said happily, making Erza smile because she knew that her friend was doing something that she loved.  
"That's great! I hope that one day we can meet again Virgo,"  
"Me too... Bye Erza," she whispered before hanging up. Erza got up from her seat and made her way toward the police station to bail her parents out.

\\(*^^*)/

"Let us out! We have to find a cure for our daughter. Please let us out!" screamed Erza's mother dramatically, using her 'mother's desperation' to good use. Erza could hear her parents as she signed the papers to let them out, making her heart beat faster. She hadn't seen them face to face in so long, that she wondered if her dad still had all his hair, or if he was developing a bold patch, or whether her mother had stopped being so melodramatic. Even though she had wanted to call them to tell them that she was going to bail them out, or even just to tell them that she was looking for them, she hadn't because she had wanted it to be a big surprise. They had always loved surprises and she knew that they also missed her a lot. When she had told them about how she was dating Gray, her mother had been so happy, while her father had kept on saying that she should dump him, making the new couple laugh.

_"Why are you laughing?! Just dump him right now and do yourself a favour!" Her father pouted, making Gray and Erza laugh even more at how ridiculous he was being.__  
__"Oh shut up for once, honey. Can't you see how happy they are? Look at their cute little faces! I can't wait to finally have grandchildren!" she said enthusiastically, making Gray beam proudly while Erza turned red with embarrassment. _  
_"Mum!" she shouted at her, wondering what she had done to deserve this._  
_"What? It's true, isn't it son in law?" she cooed, directing it at Gray. He nodded while happily saying,_  
_"Yes mother in law!",making him earn a strong punch in the gut from Erza. Proudly, her father shouted,_  
_"Yes Erza! Keep going like that angel, and you'll be broken up in no time!" This time, it was Erza's mother's turn to do the same to him, making him recoil in pain._  
_"Strange thing to say sweetie, when you and I have been together for this long, and yet I've been doing the exact same thing to you for all these years?" she said in a sing song voice. Erza knew it to be a true fact as her mother had always been like her, punishing people if they said something stupid. Like mother like daughter._

Erza wore her hoodie up as she walked towards the pair. Seeing a figure coming toward them, and knowing that they were not police, they begged her to help them. But seeing a police officer just behind the figure, they became silent, not wanting to aggravate the police yet again. After all, they were both famous, and seeing that they were involved in such a huge scandal meant that their reputation could be affected as their image was a loving couple, not two criminals. They looked at the figure more intently, feeling a familiar swell of the heart as they looked at her.

"Really mum? Really dad? Why are you two so hopeless?" she said in a giggly way before her parents realised who she was. They started crying tears of joy at the melodious sound, having missed seeing the woman they had raised together. When the door was unlocked, they jumped on her, giving her no room to breathe. They squeezed her into a hug, wanting the sensation to last forever.  
"Please.. let... me ... breathe... a ... bit.." she said while gasping for air. But her parents had gone temporarily death, only caring about finally seeing their grown up daughter in the flesh.

When they finally let go of her, she was gasping really hard, trying to fill her lungs back up with air.  
"You're so beautiful now my baby. Even more than your mother," her mother said while she covered her mouth because she knew she was about to get emotional again. Erza didn't want to be emotional as well, so she just shyly looked down on the floor as her mother complimented her.  
"Have you finally broken up with that bastard Gray" he said in a jokey voice, after finally having accepted their relationship. Erza had contemplated before she had met her parents whether to tell her parents about the break up. After all, she wanted to try and win him back and she didn't want to worry her parents, but she had never liked lying to them.  
"Actually, he broke up with me..." she whispered in a tiny voice, hoping that they hadn't heard her.  
"WHAT!? I'M GOING TO KILL THAT FU-"  
"Dad! Please don't start swearing in the police station! Don't you have an image to maintain?" she hastily said, knowing that he would have gone on a tangent. After all, they were at a police station, and she didn't want him to get arrested for attempted murder while never actually committing the deed.  
"Mum, dad, could we please talk about it later?" she asked with a pleading voice. Her parents, who loved her dearly, accepted. But her father couldn't help but show the anger on his face after having heard what that _fucking bastard _did to his beautiful daughter.

So they spent time together, catching up on what went on in their lives. Erza was very happy to talk about anything that wasn't Gray related, avoiding the subject altogether. She had also talked about her brief career as a musician, making her parents proud of their overachieving daughter. When they booked a hotel room, since there was not enough space, the two girls had to have the same room, while her father had a separate suite. He was sad that he couldn't see the two most beautiful people in his life, but he knew that Erza had chosen to share a room with her mother to talk to her more deeply.

As they prepared to go to sleep, Erza went to her mother's side as she was brushing her hair on her bed, and hugged her gently. Her mother stopped brushing her hair and started patting her daughter's head, getting ready to give her motherly advice. She waited for her daughter to speak first, because she knew all too well that her daughter didn't like to say her thoughts if she was interrupted, brushing it off as nothing before changing the topic.

"Mum... do you know why Gray dumped me?" she asked, hiding her face from her mother.  
"Why did he?" she asked her daughter, not wanting to say things before knowing the full situation. So Erza explained to her how he had helped her become an idol and sing the songs that she wanted, as well as how he had been in her first music video. Then, how he had finally kissed her and how they had started dating. She moved on to how Jellal had come into the picture and how she was supposed to pretend to like him, even though she knew in her heart that he was only a good friend. Finally, how it had all escalated and how he had broken up with her, as well as receiving his bag and looking at his belongings, only to see that Ultear was very close to him, almost breaking her heart. So that was why she was doing all her things on her checklist.

"Checklist?" inquired her mother, finding it strange that her daughter had such a thing.  
"Yes. I wrote five big things I want to do, and so far, I've completed three," she said proudly. They stayed in silence for a moment before her mother said,  
"Could I please see it?" Originally, Erza had not planned for anyone to see it, as she had wanted to keep her plans hidden. But she knew that she trusted her mother more than anyone else in the world (more than even her father, but she would never admit that), so she took her luggage bag and got out her song writing diary. Her mother flicked through the pages, impressed that she could have so many ideas in just one book. She flipped it right to the end, where she was the famous checklist. She gasped when she saw the fourth one, not wanting to believe what she had written. Tears started welling up in her eyes, and Erza knew that she had seen the fourth on the list.

"Mummy, please don't cry. You know that I was going to do it sooner or later. I won't live forever, no matter how much time and money you invest in me. After all, everyone dies..."  
"But we can find a cure still! Erza, we were so close before the police came!" intervened her mother.  
"Were you really? I honestly don't think so. I think you and dad were just being gullible and trying to find a cure to something that probably has none!"  
"But we can't give up!" her mother sobbed in despair. This time, it was Erza's turn to comfort her mother.  
"I know, I know. But you've gone all around the world and haven't found anything. Don't you think it's a sign? A sign that means that there is no cure?... Mum, I love you and dad so much, and I can't watch you doing this anymore. It has gone far enough, and it should stop right now... Please stop..."

Her mother fell on her bed and cried in her pillow as her daughter gently patted her hair, whispering, "It's okay..." Erza knew it wasn't okay, as her mother was breaking down fast and she didn't know how to stop her from crying. But Erza couldn't possibly understand the pain of feeling like you are about to lose your child because of an illness. She felt powerless, like she wasn't being a good mother. Her heart was tearing apart, and she didn't think that it could ever mend itself unless she could do something to help her daughter.

All of a sudden, she stopped crying, realising something. She knew that the only way to help her daughter was to help her complete her wish list. This meant helping her do the fourth thing on her checklist.  
"Erza, do you want me to be your legal witness?" she said in a small voice. Erza looked up at her mother in a confused fashion for a second before finally realising what she meant. She didn't know why she found it surprising that her mum helped her, because she always came through for her. Erza quickly hugged her mum before taking her documentation and other necessary things. They went to a legal office and Erza knew she had to technically have another witness to make what she signed valid, but because of her experience with the law, they used a police officer who was there to sign it to make it official. Even though because of her age, she technically was not allowed to complete it, as she had a valid medical reason, she was allowed to send it in as real. When the deed was done, she gave a sigh of relief, knowing that she had done what she had truly wanted.

_4\. □ Write my will_

Now she knew that there was only one final wish. She stared at her mother, and she nodded in silent agreement, knowing what her daughter would want to do next. But she knew that they both needed a rest after the whole ordeal, so she ordered a taxi as her exhausted daughter fell asleep on her shoulder. She carried her daughter to the hotel bedroom and gently placed her on the bed, kissing her softly on the forehead before going to sleep herself.

Erza woke up to see her mother staring down at her while shaking her, telling her repeatedly to get up. Erza giggled because she had missed her mother waking her up in the morning, and she gave her a quick hug before getting changed and making sure that her bag was packed. After that, they both took their luggage to her father's room, loudly knocking on the door at 5 a.m. in the morning. He opened the door in his briefs and a loose white shirt, wondering why his daughter and wife were both awake at this time with their luggage packed. Without explaining anything, Erza started packing his bags with her mother, as well as cleaning his room.  
"Get changed," ordered her mother as she threw items of clothing in his bags.  
"Honey, what's going on?" he asked, perplexed.  
"We're going back home," she said simply, but he was still confused. Doing as he was ordered, he went to get changed and shooed the girls out of his room, as he told them that he could do his luggage himself. But by the time he had offered, his bags were already packed and they were ready to leave. Erza's mother just rolled her eyes at him before saying,  
"Oh and also, when we're at home, please remind me why you have a magazine of that bitch Coral (Erza's mother's rival in the modelling business). Erza could see her father sweating profusely and laughed quietly with her mother as they left his room.

In less than a few hours, they were back home. Erza greeted the mansion warmly, missing its familiarity from all the travelling she had done. She could see the scratch marks from Carla's pawing from a few years ago, and even the place where she had accidentally burned a patch of carpet because she had tried cooking for the first time. All those memories were all in one house, and she felt herself becoming emotional. Her father saw this and gave her a strong, warm hug, letting her smell his familiar cologne and feel safe in his broad chest.

She broke off the hug, feeling much better. Her father ruffled her hair, making her pout at him because he messed up her hair. They spent the afternoon together laughing and watching television like a normal family. But Erza's mother knew that Erza was becoming more sluggish, always checking her temperature and seeing that she was incredibly warm or really cold. Erza saw the worry in her mother's eyes, as if she was saying, 'you don't have much time to complete your wish'. Erza sighed and got up, walking up stairs to her bedroom and taking her stationary as well as paper to write what she had been meaning to write all along. Her last wish. Her final letter to him.

_5.□ Send a letter to Gray_

She hadn't expected for it to happen so soon. It had felt only like a few minutes when she had been planning her checklist, and somehow, she was almost done with every item on the list. Even though this probably seemed like the easiest one to do, Erza found it to be the most challenging. Not only because it was almost unheard of to write letters in this day and age when they were in talking distance, but because she didn't have a clue what to write. She had drafted it so many times and crumpled the piece of paper up that now her bin was fool. She scratched her face in despair before her mother entered, wondering what was taking her daughter so long. Usually, she was very good at writing, especially letters. But she could see that her daughter really didn't know how to express her feelings of love towards Gray. She quietly picked up her discarded drafts one by one, reading the sweet and beautiful words that her daughter had written that she somehow didn't find satisfactory.

_'Hi Gray. It's me, Erza. I know you may be wondering why I'm writing a letter to you, but the truth is that I don't really know how to express myself too well, so I write letters instead. The day when you parted with me felt like so long ago, but it was actually only a few days ago. I don't really know whether to cry or complain about it, but one thing that I never wanted to do was give up on us. We have gone through so many moments- good and bad. I didn't think that that one moment could ruin it all for us. I wanted to be your 'special one'; the one who you would truly fall in love with, because I know you had a lot more experience in the dating department and I didn't want to be just another girl that you-'_

_'Gray. I will punch you in the gut if you do not come here right now and explain to me why-'_

_'I don't know whether to take on an archaic form of writing to write to you, but for some reason, I find it easier to write that way. Maybe because my words aren't as modern as they should be-'_

_'Please come back.'_

_'What did I do to deserve you leaving me? I know that I deserted you in the first place, but I still made sure to give my time to you whenever I could. I'm not a singer anymore, so I don't have the busy schedule, and I don't need to act like I'm in love with another guy. You know that I only love you.. Ugh, that sounds so cheesy. But I just really want to -'_

_'Every time I tried writing a letter to you, it seemed that I got more and more desperate. I wanted to just say sorry. I won't try to get you back, and I won't try to follow you anymore. Please be happy in life...'_

The last one Erza's mother had read was the one which her daughter had crumpled up last. It seemed like she had lost her drive and determination to get him back.  
"Sweetie..."  
"What is it mum?.." she said in a dejected tone as she had her head on her desk, concentrating on how to write a coherent letter that had all the words she wanted to tell him.  
"Just write what you need to write. Your real feelings. It doesn't matter if you seem desperate, or sad, or lonely, or just anything that you think makes him see you in a worse light. He loved you for being you- Erza Scarlet. The imperfect girl who he found to be the most perfect thing in the world. Please don't forget that," she solemnly said before leaving her daughter once again, hoping she had regained some confidence in herself.

And even though she couldn't have predicted if her words would actually work on her daughter, it had actually been a big wake up call to her. She slowly picked up all of the papers in her bin, already uncrumpled by her mother, and read them one by one, thinking of which words she definitely wanted to convey in her letters, and which ones she didn't find necessary. When she finally had a concrete plan, she grinned to herself, knowing that she would be able to do it.

_'Dear Gray,__  
__I know it's a bit old fashioned, but I knew that I needed to do this. To write a letter to you. Strange, right? But you know that sometimes, I'm not very good at expressing myself like a normal person would, punching you when I'm angry, punching you when I'm sad, and even punching you when I'm embarrassed. I become severe at times, and caring at others, but I think that I've become better, even if it's just a little, at talking to others and telling them how I really feel. Now, I want you to know how I really feel. As I'm writing this to you, my heart fills with the poison of wanting to be loved and to be cherished, but I know that there is nothing I can do now to stop it. I beg myself to stop writing this letter to you, but I know that I should continue, or I would have written this letter for no apparent reason. No one said anything to me about what it would feel like to fall in love with someone. I only heard stories of how others fell in love, and even read several books about them. One thing that both didn't teach me was that it would really hurt to love someone else. To want to be with them, but not knowing whether it was like or love. I didn't know if my only option was to confess and get my heart broken, or for you to confess and leave your heart broken. Why does one heart always have to break? Because I didn't know if we were meant for each other. I had somehow got it in my brain that if a guy confessed to me, no matter what, I would reject them. This way, I could be happier as I only had to focus on myself. Whenever I looked at other couples, I always thought how much effort it was to be in a relationship, constantly having to check up on each other and do things together. It just seemed like such a hassle, and I had no intention to go through it. But when we met at Raven street and I caught a glimpse of a Raven haired man, I somehow got it in my head that it was maybe fate. I know many people don't believe in destiny anymore, but I always liked the idea of it. Meeting the most important people in your life through a string of situations that no one could have predicted. After all, we are all strangers until someone takes the initiative to talk. So I kept on going like that, getting closer to you while wondering if I should confess. I had honestly been prepared to ask you to date me when you had suddenly told me you loved me and soon after kissed me. I remembered that Cana had told me to take more chances, so I had taken a chance on you. I ignored what I had told myself not to do- say yes. We've always had fun as friends, and I was glad that even when we had gotten into a relationship, it had been easy to stay the same, only with a lot more kissing and hand holding. I'm glad it didn't get awkward between us. Thank you for pushing me to follow my dream, to help me come out of my shell and experience new things. Thank you for being there for me and giving me new, beautiful memories I will cherish till the day that I die. Thank you for loving me, the stubborn Scarlet haired Titania. Even if the bleeding prisoner can't escape its cage, the Raven can always fly away. Now I must cut this string short before the hourglass of time completely stops... I love you...'_

* * *

**Fullbuster Residence- One day later**

Gray woke up in a daze, hearing the violent noises coming from the door. He got up, only to realise that he was in his boxer shorts. Not wanting to be sued for inappropriate conduct, he waited for the postman to leave, hoping that he didn't need his signature to get the letters. When he was sure that he was gone, he looked at his doorstep to see the usual letters. A bill, another bill, an overdue bill, a life insurance booklet and a letter for him. He was surprised by the neat handwriting, because he only knew of one person with that precise penmanship. Not wanting anything or anyone to intrude on him while he was reading, he locked the door and went inside his huge wardrobe, worried that Ultear may have installed secret cameras in his house. He took the light from one of the clothes in his pocket and read it silently, totally immersed by her captivating words.

When he had finished, he knew that something was very wrong. He didn't know what, but he knew that he had to go somewhere quickly.

\\(*^-^*)/

Jellal was doing another press conference . It had been the fifth time that week. He sincerely thanked all those who were there for destroying his father's company. He had also gotten a lot of support from the crowds when he had asked them if they could help him conduct a stakeout to find the man who had ruined several lives and households. He continued on with his speech when he heard a loud scream, as well as a loud bang coming from the doors. Everyone stood in silence as they saw that it was none other than Ultear, Jellal's sister. It seemed like she had tears in her eyes, and Jellal suddenly felt guilty about everything he had said, because Ultear clearly still cared for him. She stepped up to the microphone that Jellal was using, and he moved back, allowing her to speak.

"P-p-please s-s-top talking about my f-father like this. E-even if the whole world hates him now, he is still my father, and I still love him with my w-whole heart. Right now, all we are doing is speculating. We don't know if half the things people claim he did were true or not. He couldn't be that bad, because he was the one who cared for me when everyone had left me..." she concluded before placing the microphone in Jellal's hands and leaving. Seeing how deeply hurt she was, the crowd had stopped talking out loud about Haru. It was evident that they all still despised him, but they felt sorry for his daughter, who seemed to be the most hurt by their actions.

Jellal knew that he couldn't convince the crowd to take his side when Ultear was acting like a defenceless puppy, and he also knew that he couldn't stand to see his sister like that, so he disbanded the conference, promising to do more later to raise awareness on Haru Milkovich and his crimes. Jellal walked in the streets while looking at his feet, immersed in his own thoughts. He didn't have proof, but he suspected that Haru had killed his own brother, Aki. But he wasn't too sure, and he knew that the only way people would believe him was to find any possible evidence that could make him a prime suspect in the death of his brother.

Suddenly, he collided with a figure, as he wasn't looking at his surroundings. They both fall to the floor in pain, mumbling apologies to each other. Jellal looks up from the floor to see a ghost of his past, but he looked a lot older and more mature than before. But he knew who he was right away. It was the unknown boy who had helped him win the competition. Gray Fullbuster. You may be thinking that they should have met, as they were both close to Erza. But the fact is that Jellal had been too busy plotting to ever watch Erza's music video starring Gray, or ever meeting him as their sessions to record the videos for the album had always been different. So essentially, this was the first time that Jellal met Gray in several years.

Unknowingly, Jellal hugged the person who he had admired for a very long time while they were both still on the floor. Realising what he had done, he quickly let go of him, sitting back onto the pavement. Gray looked at him in confusion, wondering why the famous singer was suddenly hugging him, even though they didn't know each other. Something clicked in Gray, and he realised that it was the boy he had helped years ago, who had a distinct red birthmark. Gray had never seen it before until now, because in public appearances, he had always covered it up with makeup (or something similar) to keep up with his 'sweet guy' theme.

They both stood up awkwardly, not really making eye contact. Jellal chose to bow his head and say,  
"Thank you again for that time. Thanks to you, I won, and I owe all of my success to you!" he shouted solemnly, making a few people turn to look at him. He could hear the Raven haired teenager chuckle before he felt a pair of hands on his left hand, giving him a hand shake. He raised his head and also shook the hand firmly. They both smiled at each other goofily, not really knowing what they were doing, but being happy all the same.  
"And thank you for taking care of Erza for me Jellal," Gray said, a melancholic smile on his face.

Jellal looked at Gray a bit more, feeling a sense of familiarity from him. He had seen someone before with that same face, but he couldn't really put his finger on it.  
"Gray, who is your father?" he suddenly asked, curious. Gray raised an eyebrow at him, wondering why Jellal was asking him such a random question.  
"Aki Fullbuster," he simply said, making something click inside Jellal.  
"Ah!" He screamed upon realisation. Still not getting what was going on, Gray thought that Jellal maybe had gone a bit insane.  
"Would you mind explaining to me why you are suddenly screaming?" he asked cautiously. Jellal knew that it would be best if they discussed what he was going to say in a place that wasn't so open.  
"Gray, please follow me to my house for a bit."

So they went to his house, which was a comfortable two storey house. It was exactly like a bachelor pad, except a lot tidier than expected. Gray sat down on the black couch, waiting for his host to bring him water with ice cubes in it. When he returned, he also had some tea for himself.  
"So..." Gray started.  
"So..." Jellal said, not really knowing where to start. He took a deep sigh before saying,  
"Please listen carefully. I know that you had an adoptive mother named Ul. She and my mother were very close, as they had both been with the same man. They had supported each other through the good and the bad, and Ul had always taken care of me when my mother was busy with work. She had liked to tell me stories, especially about her past. One of those stories was this..."

_"Ul! Could you please tell me another story?" Begged Jellal as a small child.__  
__"Another one?" she giggled, happy to be taking care of such a cute child._  
_"Yes!" He had exclaimed, making her want to pinch his cheeks._  
_"Okay, but only one more! Choose the genre then Jellal," she asked._  
_"What about.. tragedy and romance?" Ul was surprised by how mature he really was for being such a young child. She nodded, having the perfect story in mind. Ul had actually promised herself never to tell the story of her tragic love, but she somehow felt like Jellal was the best person to tell. She didn't know why, but she trusted that child to keep her story and to do what he thought was best with it. She told herself that she would only tell it to him, and no one else._  
_"Okay! Well.. Let's start with a girl who lived on a mountain. Just before exam week, she didn't expect to meet the love of her life, Aki. He was the sweetest, kindest and funniest person in the whole world to her. But when he suddenly disappeared, she became broken hearted, lost in a nightmare of her own mind. She could barely function until she got a visitor. A man named Haru had told her that he was Aki's brother, and that Aki would never see her again. So to mend her broken heart, he wanted to have her hand in marriage. Usually, the girl was smart and didn't accept offers like that so easily, but when she had heard that Aki would no longer want to be with her, she chose to go for the second best thing- his brother. So she married him and even had a child with him, but realised too late that he was not the one for her and that she had forever lost the chance to be with her soul mate..." When Ul had finished, she had noticed tears in his eyes._  
_"Jellal! I'm so sorry, please don't cry!" she cooed at the child. But he wasn't crying because of just the story, but how fate had played against the pair._  
_"Is that girl you?" he whispered. She had nodded silently. They had both sat in silence for a while, before Ul clapped her hands and said,_  
_"Remember how I always talk about morals? What do you think the moral of this story is?" she asked him as she tickled him. But as he was laughing too much, she knew that he wouldn't be able to answer._  
_"The moral is to fight for what you want until the very end, if you know in your heart that it's what you want," she told him, and Jellal never forgot that._

"There is also one other thing... I think that Haru only married Ul to make his brother jealous, because of their ongoing rivalry. Because of their intense hatred for each other, I wouldn't be surprised if Haru had killed Aki..." he whispered. Gray thought for a few moments before saying,  
"But my parents died in a plane crash..."  
"But what if Haru had planned it?! What if he had told the pilot to do it, maybe as blackmail?!" speculated Jellal. Gray really didn't know what to think, his mouth going dry at the thought of it. _Could he have been killed? _was the thought that coursed through his mind, going around and around until those were the only words that he knew. Jellal snapped his fingers together, making Gray focus again.  
"If you think it may have happened, then maybe we can investigate?" he said, a doubtful tone in his voice. But then he saw the other man's eyes glimmer, as if he had been thinking the same thing.

So they went on their search for the truth. The first order of business was to go to both Haru's office and house. While it may have been dangerous, they knew that there was probably where all of his secrets would be. Thanks to Jellal, they easily infiltrated into Haru's office, which was locked to all staff as well as visitors. Gray had been slightly panicked to go inside, because it seemed very suspicious to him that no one was allowed to enter. He felt like maybe Haru Milkovich was still in his office, plotting to take over the world. But when they entered, it was empty, everything there as it was before. They began their search, Gray looking through the papers while Jellal looked at his computer.

At first, it had all seemed like a waste of time, as they could only find things to do with the company, like its artists and other irrelevant things. But somehow, they had both found important clues to the puzzle. Jellal had called Gray over to look at an email from Haru's mother, talking about how she wanted him to have a new wife, like his first one. Jellal had assumed that they were talking about Ul, but apparently, after going through thorough research, he had discovered that the wife he was talking about was completely different to Ul. Haru had been previously married to someone else, and this shocked both of them. Maybe if they found the wife, they could also find out if she knew any incriminating information about him. Before Gray could present what he had found, he had gotten a text. He was surprised to see that it was Esca. He remembered her as Juvia's silent roommate, as Lyon had described her. Recently, she had joined their friendship group, and she had even helped Gray whist he had been trapped in his own house, giving him words of encouragement, and saying that she would help him deal with Ultear.

**Esca: Where are you right now?****  
****Gray: I'm just hanging out with a friend. Y? Whats up?**  
**Esca: I just wanted to know if you found Haru. Juvia says she doesn't feel safe with him on the loose and knowing everyone in our circles.**  
**Gray: I'm sure it's fine. I'm busy rn, ttyl.**  
**Esca: Okay, bye.**

He wondered why she had suddenly asked about Haru, but quickly moved on. He showed Jellal a family portrait behind a safe, which showed all of Haru's family. Except for one person, which had been scribbled out and shot darts at several times. From the height and physique, it was easy to assume that it was in fact Aki, Gray's father. He felt anger surging inside him as he saw how Haru had disrespected his father, but there was nothing he could do about it, so he restrained himself. At least now they knew that Haru definitely passionately hated his own brother.

But Gray was curious about how they were brothers in the first place, because his father had never talked to him about his family. He knew Haru and Gray were probably not related by blood, as they had two different surnames. So they went to the family registry, as well as the bank. Instead of going to a physical place, they went back to Jellal's house. He went online and checked the family register, using Aki's name. What they found shocked them, The truth of their biological relationship was that Haru and Aki did both in fact have different fathers, but they had the same mother. They investigated more and found out that Aki's mother had been married with Haru's father first, and even gave birth to him, but being unhappy in her relationship, she left that family and got married to Aki's father instead. But it seemed that the Fullbuster family suffered a similar fate, as both Aki's parents had died in a tragic accident. Being an orphan at quite a fragile age, Aki's grandfather from his mother's side wanted him to join their family- the Milkovich family. So he went into the Milkovich family, gaining the brother who would be the torn in his life, Haru Milkovich. It all seemed very extraordinary to the pair, as Haru and Aki were related by blood.

They then went to the bank to look at what was in Aki's safe. Gray had never been there before as he had always been scared of its contents. There could have been something that Aki had left for him, or nothing at all. It made him nervous thinking that maybe Haru had gotten his filthy paws on his father's belongings, even taking away their evidence so that they couldn't uncover the truth. When they asked to look into Aki's safe, the receptionist had looked a bit taken aback, saying that someone just a few hours ago had requested to look inside the safe, but because they didn't have the right authority, they weren't allowed to access it. Gray felt so grateful in that moment, because he knew that it must have definitely been Haru who had been trying to stalk them. But when he asked him what the person looked like, they said that it had been clearly a woman. This made them both raise their eyebrows at each other, but they quickly moved on, wanting to find out the contents of Aki's safe.

What they discovered was a letter and a large sum of money. That was all. Gray had expected more and couldn't hide his disappointment from Jellal. After all, they had only been allowed to get the contents in the safe because he was Aki's son. Jellal gave him a reassuring pat on the back to tell him that they should still try to search the safe, as they may be more clues. Gray chose to read the letter while Jellal searched around the room, and Gray realised that the letter was dedicated to him. He read it out loud so that Jellal could also listen while he searched around the room.

"Dear Gray, you know that I never loved your mother. I wish that I had told you before about what happened to make me like this and I want to say sorry to you. Sorry for being a bad father to you. Sorry for being a disgrace to my family. I, Aki Fullbuster only loved one woman by the name of Ul. I had lost my parents at a young age, and my grandfather had allowed me to be back in the family, after we had been ostracized. I finally got to meet my half brother Haru, but I knew we wouldn't get along from the start. He had always tried to compete with me and even tried to kick me out of the family. But it would never work, because my grandfather, who is the head of the family, loved me more than him. Maybe that was why he hated me, but except for him, I was graciously accepted into the Milkovich family. I tried my hardest to be a good student, but all my family cared about was marriage. They wanted a strong partner for me to help me with my business like, as they knew that Haru would not get picked as the heir. So I got married, staying silent in hope that I could live a peaceful life. But then I knew that I did not love your mother, so I left. I thought it was for the best. If I left, Haru would have a better chance of getting my wife to fall for him, so that he could be happy. Even though we had a rivalry, I had never truly hated him. I just wanted him to fight for what he wanted, as he had always been a coward. So when I left, I didn't realise I would find my soul mate. We spent several happy years together, and those were indeed the most beautiful moments in my life. But all good things must come to an end, and your mother tricked me. While I hated her for deceiving me, she conceived the one thing I loved most in the world- you. I wanted to keep you out of harm's way, out of any danger that could corrupt you. But alas, I am a rubbish father. I know that I have been targeted by someone, but I don't know who. I wish to come home soon so that I can run away with you, and find out were Ul is. Maybe we can be a family together... I know people may view me as a selfish man, but I was just a victim of fate. I was foolish, and didn't make the right decisions. I hope that you think I made the right decisions for you my dearest Gray, because the only thing I wanted was to be good to you. In our family, there is a myth that all the males will be cursed. I didn't really believe it at first, but then I saw the family register and how all the males in our family died early, including my father and many others. I'm not the type of person to get paranoid, so I stayed calm. I knew that all I had to do was get the secret melody, and then I could be the best father to you and make sure that you could live a long, fulfilled life. No one had found it before, and I wished to get it so that I could protect you. As far as I know, my father is the only person to have found the secret melody..." Gray paused, shocked by the revelation.

"I heard about the secret melody before," Jellal whispered excitedly as he stopped for a moment, digesting what Aki had revealed to them. "If I'm not mistaken, it's a melody that is supposed to remove the curse... Gray!" Jellal shouted all of a sudden, realisation hitting him hard.  
"Since we are both part of that family... Doesn't it mean that we are both cursed?" Gray's eyes went wide at his statement. If that was true, then it would mean that they could die early.  
"Maybe my father wrote the melody in the letter!" Gray interjected, hoping his hunch was right.  
"But didn't Aki's father also technically die early?" Jellal said quietly, avoiding Gray's gaze. There was a moment of silence between them before Gray continued reading to calm his nerves.

"My father is the only person to have found the secret melody. Sadly, he didn't pass it on to me before he passed away, and I now think I know why. It probably changes every generation, so finding a past one would mean nothing. My father had told me that my mother had sang him an incomplete song every night, but she could never fully remember the lyrics, stumbling on them because she said she had heard it in a dream. Remembering that, I gained a theory. What if it wasn't the male in our family who was supposed to have the secret melody, but in fact the wife of the male? What if whoever your soul mate was had the melody? But then the question that comes up is, why didn't my mother ever finish the melody? I raised another theory to that, which was that she had felt herself wavering on whether she loved him. This was because she had always been strict on herself and had never been with someone other than him, so she would get jealous of him with other girls easily. When I came into the picture, it made matters worse as she only cared about me, putting me before everything else, including her marriage. Once, she had almost been able to complete the melody, finally realising that she did love him wholeheartedly, but I had suddenly cried from falling down the stairs, making her rush over to me. That had been the last day I had seen them. I cannot help but feel like it was all my fault, and that I should not have cried out, as they may have been alive today. That is why I've been testing my theory out, asking your mother to sing to me, only for her to refuse. The only way for both of us to live is to find Ul. That is why I have gone on a business trip with your mother, but when we return back, I will be going to find Ul with you. Even if I cannot be saved, I want you to live on, free from the curse. Your doting father, Aki..."

Gray and Jellal both had tears in their eyes, but quietly wiped them away, knowing that they wanted to complete Aki's legacy. Jellal gasped when he suddenly hit a wall, only to find a secret compartment. Inside, they find several diary entries of Aki's diary of what he had summarised in his letter. Hopeful, they went to the last location- Haru's house. They didn't expect to infiltrate so easily, but they did. They went straight into his room, only to find that there was nothing there. The whole place had been ransacked clean, and there wasn't event a scrap of paper, or anything to indicate that he may ever return. They went back to Jellal's house, dejected.

After pondering for a bit, Jellal said, "Do you want to visit Aki's grave?" Gray had not been there in a very long time, knowing that he had only gone there once in his entire lifetime. Not only had they never recovered Aki's body, but he had never been able to quietly mourn because of his hatred for everything that had caused the plane crash. Gray nodded, wanting to see his father after discovering so much about him in such a short time.

There was no one in the graveyard, and everything was silent, only their footsteps echoed. They were in front of Aki's grave, and it was obvious that he had been very loved, his tomb stone more majestic and gleaming than anyone else's. For some reason, Gray had finally started to collect his thoughts. He wondered why they had adopted Aki, but after Aki's death, they had never tried to look for him, making him live in a foster home instead. Then he remembered that his father's grandfather had died from shock because of the news of Aki's death, and so he didn't have any more authority on the Milkovich family. He didn't know why, but he chuckled at the coincidence of knowing Ul, who had been his father's soul mate. It seemed funny that no one could be with the one they loved- even he couldn't be with Erza! While he chuckled, Jellal stared at him with worry, not wanting to interrupt him.

Suddenly, they both heard loud squealing coming from their pockets. They knew right away that they were getting calls from someone. They both looked at their phone screens to see that it was none other than Erza. Even though Gray wasn't supposed to have any contact with her, he picked up right away, not even thinking about the consequences.

**If I Die young- The Band Perry**

"If I die young, bury me in satin,  
Lay me down on a bed of roses,  
Sink me in the river, at dawn,  
Send me away with the words of a love song..."

Gray's heart jolted, hearing the sad melody. He knew that there was something very wrong. Panicked, they both rushed to Erza's location. Using the GPS signal, they realised that she was in the hospital. Gray started praying under his breath for her to be okay while Jellal drove as quickly as possible, narrowly missing the red lights several times. What they didn't know was that they were not the only people who were sent that message, but everyone they knew.

Gray stormed in, to see the woman he loved in a white dress, her face full of suffering. She seemed to be in critical condition, her heart rate slowly decreasing on the monitor. But the nurses were doing nothing, just staring at her as if they had given up. Erza was breathing slowly and as she looked up, she saw his face. She could see that he was panicked and worried, and that he wanted to shout at the nurses to do something other than stare. His whole body was visibly shaking, and he couldn't help but only look at her, not caring about anything other than her.

Gray saw Erza look him in the eyes before she ran to the large window while swiftly taking off the tubes on her arms, looking at him as if she were scared.  
"Erza!" he screamed, wanting her to stay away from the window. After all, the window was open and she could easily fall down. They were on the third floor in the hospital, and he knew that that height would be enough to kill someone. She didn't look like she was in the best condition, heavily panting and wheezing while being unbalanced on her two feet. He stepped closer to her, and she stepped even closer to the window. She seemed to be mumbling something, but he couldn't hear her.

"Pl-pl-please stay away..." she said weakly, looking like she was about to faint. Gray was crying heavily, tears dropping silently on the hospital floor.  
"Don't tell me to go. Please Erza..." he cried, not holding back. But all she did was shake her head weakly as she stepped even closer to the window. "Please just step forward, and I will go.. I-I will disappear from your life f-f-forever, so please s-s-stay away from the w-w-indow.." he pleaded with her, hoping she would listen to him.

But she still shook her head, not listening to his words.  
"Why are you doing this to me?! Don't you remember when you said you loved me? When you said you would never quit no matter what?! Why are you quitting now Titania?!" he screamed at her, hoping that it would make her get some sense. But all she did was step even closer to the window. He didn't feel like his words were having much of an effect at all, so he tried to get closer. But she screamed at him, and took a huge step back, now touching the wall that the open window was on.

Gray panicked. She wasn't listening. Nothing he was doing was making her move away from the window. He stepped back a bit, and she finally stopped going back. He gulped, trying to formulate words that would somehow encourage her to move closer to him. He hated seeing the woman he loved shivering even though it wasn't cold, her pale skill more translucent than it had ever been, sickly looking. She breathed raggedly and her stance, which was usually perfect, now slouched. He didn't like her looking like a corpse, but he could already see the blue showing on her skin. He saw her opening her mouth trying to say something, and he waited, the precious seconds feeling like hours.

"Goodbye Gray..."she whispered as she finally stepped on the window threshold. Gray screamed and rushed to catch her, but she let a single drop escape from her eye before falling. Even as she fell, she looked so graceful and beautiful. He ran to the window, trying to rush to go and grab her hand so that he could save her from the fall, but the doctors and nurses all blocked him, restraining him as he screamed in agony at his loss. They didn't allow him to see her body, pushing him away into another hospital room.

His heart broke, and he felt like he was dying inside. He could only clutch at his chest in vain, trying to stop the pain as he belted his heart out. While in the hospital, Jellal stays by his side, hoping to comfort him.

The funeral was short, and only close friends were allowed. Erza's parents weren't at the funeral, and Gray had been silent the whole time, a stoic look on his face.

**Done! :D And please do not hate me xD I beg you! The story isn't over yet, so don't worry your fragile hearts ;p I won't be able to finish it before the new year, but Happy New Year! :D Hope that you guys have a fun 2016 ;) Be happy my adorable royal chibis and make sure to be kind to your parents/guardians/ whoever takes care of you, or who you view as your family (not biologically) because they love you and want the best for you, so you shouldn't be shy, but openly show your love for them :D HUGS! \\(*^-^*)/**

**Roxanne~**


	51. Our Lament

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Hello my beautiful forgiving chibis! I'm sorry for updating chapter 50, but here's chapter 51. Please like it a lot :D I hope you guys have a happy new year!**

**Chapter LI: Our Lament**

It had been three years since Natsu had disappeared, and Lucy knew that the only way she could feel like she was accomplishing something was to follow both Natsu's and Erza's advice- becoming a Zodiac Hunter. At first, she had been completely against it, only wanting to wait for Natsu to come back. But when she realised that he had told her to find the Zodiacs not just to keep her occupied, but because they were actually in danger, she knew that it was part of a bigger plan. Every day, Zodiacs were being endlessly persecuted against, even though they were supposed to be one of the most important groups of people. After all, for every generation, only twelve Zodiacs existed.

Lucy wanted to give them protection for several reasons, but one of the key reasons was that her mother had also tried to protect them. In fact, she had helped Aquarius and her boyfriend, but Aquarius still acted as if she hated Lucy, even after finishing school. Her mother had died too early, so she had not been able to complete her mission of finding all twelve zodiacs. Even though Lucy couldn't help but despair a little that her mother could not help her, Layla Heartfilia had left a notebook with several useful tips, as well as the location of eight of the Zodiacs. She had still continued to write in her autobiography to Layla, including everyday happenings, and how she missed Natsu. She had not been able to focus on writing any other books, as she had been busy solving the Stellar Key Mystery while trying to discover her mother's past.

Layla Heartfilia had been a very mysterious woman, not really sharing her profession with her family. She had always gone at odd times of the day somewhere, and Lucy had finally gathered that it was to go to meetings that were held by the Stellar Key Mystery Association, who had wanted to investigate the potential of the keys, and just how closely they related to the Zodiacs. Lucy knew that her mother would have wanted her to have the same career path as her, and she also wanted to get back Natsu after feeling more accomplished, hoping that he would be proud of her achievements.

She didn't think she was that good at first, messing up the locations of different Zodiacs several times, and even embarrassing herself in front of her elders in the Stellar Key Mystery Association. She had been the laughing stock, and she knew that the only way to rectify that would be to prove herself, and train the hardest out of everyone. Every day, she tried to increase her intellect, as well as her strength and agility. After all, this was the only way she could prove herself to them, seeing that they had irregular surprise fitness tests to see if they could qualify.

The first random test they had given her, she had been really close to getting kicked out, the only redeeming thing had been her durability in a fight. That was how it had gone downhill, and she had lost all her confidence. But she knew that she shouldn't give up, because she felt like it was what she was meant to be. After about a month of training herself to be better, there had been the random test.

Everyone had expected her to fail like the last time she had done it, but she had surprised them all when she had gotten the second highest rank, being only one point away from their strongest member- Loke. After she and Loke had both lost special people in their lives, he had confessed to her his story, and that he had wanted to find his fellow Zodiac, Aries. So they had decided to work together to achieve their goals. It had been a beautiful collaboration, Lucy being the brains, while Loke had been the brawn. But just because she was the brain didn't mean that she didn't get involved in the fighting.

As time went on though, Lucy and Loke felt even more lonely than they had previously been when they had lost their loved ones. So in the heat of the moment one day, they had kissed. They had both known that it had been a terrible decision, as there had been no love in that kiss. Nevertheless, they were both broken people, and needed to feel comforted, so they decided to date for a while, trying to mend each other's hearts.

But their relationship did not last long, and they decided to unanimously break up, after knowing that it would be best to stay friends. They had already been through too much together, and they didn't think that lying to themselves would help their situation.

* * *

**HibiCana Household 10:54 PM**

Cana and Hibiki had been a very happy couple, as they had been surprised with not one, but two children; twins. Cana had been surprised, as her stomach had been relatively small for one child, but somehow, two had managed to fit inside of her! After almost two days in the labour room, she had been able to deliver two beautiful baby boys. Hibiki had been surprised that there had been more than one child, but he had embraced it quickly and had equally loved the members in their family.

But tragedy had struck Cana when there had been a complication with her third child. Soon after the twins, Hibiki had been happy to know that Cana was pregnant with yet another baby. But the baby had been very weak, and Cana had known that the blame was on her. It had been because of all the alcohol she had consumed three years ago, and it had affected the baby. The doctors had said that there had been a high chance for the child to survive, and that she would bring to the world a beautiful girl. But they had been terribly wrong, as Cana had one day suffered through immense stomach aches. Hibiki had rushed her to the hospital, only for her to stay for over a day. When he had heard that the baby had been dying inside Cana, he had been told that the only way for her to survive too was if he signed the contract to allow them to end the child's life. Cana had begged him not to, telling him that she could survive, and she didn't want her child to die. But not wanting his precious wife to die, as he knew there was no hope for the child to, he signed it, and Cana had suffered through a miscarriage.

After the miscarriage, Cana had stayed in the hospital for over a month, not wanting to have any contact with anyone, especially her husband. She had been very unresponsive, only sleeping and waking up, but never talking to anyone, not even the doctors. They could do nothing to stop her refusing to talk, so they had to release her when they saw that she was physically fine. But they knew that mentally, she was very broken, and they hoped that her husband's love would be the best remedy.

But Hibiki had not been able to do it, as the doctors had also told him some information which he had been forced to tell her once she had been released. As he faced his wife on her wheelchair, her face blank, he could only cry at the news. After all, he had been raising his two children on his own for a month, making sure to work and provide for their family as well as let them visit their mother often. He knew that if he told her what he knew, she would probably never speak to him again. But being the caring husband he was, he didn't want her to not know.

"Cana..." he started, forcing himself not to let his voice betray him. "I know you probably won't forgive me for killing our child, but I had wanted to save you. It's too late now to say sorry, but at least I want to tell you what the doctors told me... After your miscarriage, something went wrong during the operation... They had accidentally damaged your reproductive organs..." He couldn't continue, not wanting to spell it out to her. After all, as soon as he said those words, her blank stare had sharpened, and she had let one single tear drop from her eyes.  
"I can't have any more children..." were the first words that she said to her husband. He just nodded, not wanting to face her. He had wiped the fallen tear from Cana's face before walking outside, knowing that they would both need time alone to grieve.

And Cana did grieve, endlessly for so many days that Hibiki knew he had to mend the relationship. She had trapped herself in her room, closing herself off from everyone she knew. Hibiki didn't think that there was anything more he could do, as he felt like he was making the situation only worse. So he called one of Cana's best friends, Mirajane. When she had heard about what had happened to Cana, she had felt instantly guilty that she hadn't been there for her. She had agreed right away to try to help Cana, knowing that it was the only thing she could think of doing for her friend.

When the phone call had ended, she had approached Elfman, telling him congratulations for the wedding, and that she had to leave for an important matter. She had been at Elfman's engagement party after he had proposed to Evergreen. They had all cheered on for him, as he had been very shy when it had come to trying to get his feelings reciprocated. After almost three years of knowing her, he had finally confessed to her. Somehow, only a month later he had proposed to her, and everybody had been very surprised when she had actually said yes. After all, it wasn't like he was very handsome, and he didn't even have a job yet, being still in university. Mirajane had been against the idea of him and her dating at first, especially thinking of how their children would look when they were born. But she had learned to accept their relationship eventually, Lisanna having a big part in persuading her not to be that one person who was the villain in every relationship.

She also quickly said goodbye to her sister Lisanna, telling her that she had to go and see Cana. She ran to get a taxi, but none of them were showing up. After waiting for almost ten minutes, cursing herself for not taking her car to the engagement party after being dissuaded by Evergreen. She still felt some animosity with Evergreen, but at least her feelings seemed sincere enough, so she tried to let her anger dissuade before she went back to the party and unleashed her beast mode. She called Sayla, who had become a close friend of everyone in their circle of friends, telling her that she should meet her at Cana's house, as they needed to save her. She heard a tap from Sayla, which meant that she said yes. She hung up quickly, holding her hands tightly together as she froze in the cold night.

Just as she spotted the taxi from a distance, she sighed with relief before screaming as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head to see a man with long Green hair smiling at her. She graciously smiled back before turning to look at the taxi anxiously. The man with Green hair tried to get her attention again, and this time, she turned around to fully face him.  
"What's your name?" he asked while looking at her in a mesmerised fashion. Mirajane looked at him with bewilderment. After all, she was currently the most popular actress, newsreader and model in the whole world, so it was a bit surprising that he didn't recognise her from anywhere.  
"Mirajane," she replied, not remotely interested in his name. Just as she was about to turn back again, he whispered,  
"That's such a beautiful name for a beautiful girl." She felt like she wanted to snort at his cheesiness. She finally realised why he was bothering her, not thinking that she would have been flirted with at such a private event, were she knew most of the people at the party. She analysed his clothes, seeing only his red coat that had a belt. She didn't know what to think of him, as he seemed at first glance like a serious type of person who didn't randomly talk to strangers. But his appearance was deceiving, as he was still talking to her even after she was talking so coldly to him.

When the taxi finally arrived, she entered, shouting the address hurriedly to the driver as she looked in her purse for some money to pay him. She didn't even want to acknowledge the person who had been pestering her. What she hadn't realised was that he had entered the taxi, closing the door while paying for her. She glared at him, not amused at his antics. Usually, if a guy liked her, they at least respected her personal space, or at least got the hint that she didn't like them. She didn't particularly want anyone in her life, even though her sister had been complaining that she was only getting older, and less men would like her. But she didn't care too much, especially if the guy only cared for her appearance.

Instead of reprimanding him for being in the taxi and even paying for her, she chose to not talk to him, ignoring him completely as she looked at the scenery from outside her window. But she couldn't help but feel like she was being watched at a close proximity, and she regretted not sacking him away before. When she finally arrived in front of Cana's house, she got off, only for him to also get out of the car and start following her. Whoever the stranger was, she was frankly getting very annoyed by him. Not feeling like she had to act graciously anymore, as he was essentially stalking her, and she was in her rights to act out if he kept on doing it, she ordered him,  
"If you stop following me, I will allow you to talk to me later if you stay outside, got it?" she emphasised, hoping he would actually listen for once. He nodded and smiled at her. Just to test him, she walked a bit forward before stopping, only to see that he was in the exact same position as he was before. At least he had understood her words, so she continued to go inside their house. She saw Sayla already there by the door, and she greeted her with a small smile, only to get a nod from her. Even though Sayla was a good friend, she tended to act unemotional and callous, but Mirajane hoped it was just a personality trait.

They both entered Cana's room after briefly greeting Hibiki, wanting to see what exactly what was wrong with Cana, instead of hearing it from Hibiki. Hibiki raised his eyebrows a bit when he saw Sayla, not expecting her to be there. When he had gotten acquainted with her, he had not been very warm or welcoming. There had been unspoken animosity between them that no one could understand, but they chose to just never see each other or acknowledge each other. He only saw her as bad news, and even called Juvia often to ask if she was okay, thinking that she was in danger. Everyone had gotten used to the way he acted around Sayla, but they all couldn't help but wish that they would just get along.

When they saw Cana, Mirajane couldn't help but gasp. Cana had large bags under her eyes, and she looked incredibly pale while holding on to the baby clothes that she had bought for her deceased baby. Sayla had tried to pull the baby clothes away from her hands, but Cana had gripped on to it tightly, slightly glaring at Sayla, who had immediately stopped. She had then started silently crying, not really acknowledging the two other people in the room. It seemed like that was all she did most of the day, as she had a tear streaked face. Mirajane proceeded to gently hold her friend's hand to stop her from holding the baby clothes. Eventually, the baby dress dropped to the floor, and Mirajane crouched on the floor while looking above her at the eyes of the woman who had had so much spirit in her, that was now all gone. Her juvenile glimmer had completely disappeared, and Mirajane felt despair, as this was not the friend who she had known for several years.

Knowing that there was another person who could help them, she quickly called Bisca.  
"Bisca, would you mind coming quickly? We really need your help.." Mirajane whispered, not wanting to make too loud a sound, in case it startled Cana, before telling Bisca to come to Cana's room. Bisca had been at the police station, trying to solve a case with Alzack and her university rival Laxus. They had been the top three students in the Police Academy, and they had been allowed to graduate early and form a crime fighting group. Bisca left the boys to do their job, as she didn't think that it would go anywhere while she took her cowgirl hat and left to take the police car. Usually, she didn't do this, but she used the police car to go to Cana's house quickly. This was because she was incredibly far from where her friends were, and she didn't really want to stay in several hours of traffic.

As she reached Cana's house rapidly in record time, she noticed a random man just standing very close to Cana's doorstep and he even greeted her, and she awkwardly waved back at him before going into the house, finding him very strange. He didn't look homeless, and yet he was just standing there, as if he was waiting for someone, or had nowhere to go.

When she saw Cana, she could hear that she was mumbling to herself like a crazy woman, telling herself that it was all her fault that her child had died. Bisca proceeded to slap her friend, the impact making a loud noise, which even Hibiki had heard, but chose not to know what was happening, as he trusted her friends. Bisca stared for a while at Cana, who was looking at her friend who had just slapped her.  
"Cana... It wasn't your fault," was all she said. For some reason, it finally got through to Cana that it was not her fault. She knew that she had been partly to blame, but she had quit drinking long before having her children and her third child would have been the one furthest from danger. Cana got up to check the rooms of her children, and she saw how quiet they were, hoping not to disturb their mummy, even though she could see that they missed her. She also noticed how sad her husband looked, and realised how badly she had treated him all this time. Hibiki opened his eyes to see a familiar figure that he hadn't seen in a while. Quickly, he rushed over to her and hugged her, wanting her to know that he really did love her, and he didn't want anything happening to her.

"I'm sorry for being so selfish," she whispered quietly to her husband, knowing that those words were nothing compared to his anguish the past few weeks, but still wanting to be forgiven. But Hibiki had always been a loving and forgiving soul, so he kept on telling her that he was the one who was sorry, and that he loved her. Bisca and Mirajane looked at the reunited couple happily, while Sayla stayed silent like always. After Bisca, Sayla and Mirajane left, Cana knew that she still had one more thing to do.

She entered the room she had confined herself in for several weeks and took her tarot cards, after not wanting to touch them after such a long time. The last time she had used them, the exact thing she had predicted had happened. But now, she knew that she had to trust in the cards before she could use them, as they sometimes also made her predict good endings. She shuffled them carefully, clearing her mind as she visualised what she was predicting. She put the cards down and picked five from the top and five from the bottom, just like last time. She turned them one by one with her eyes closed, not wanting to know if they would finally give her what she had hoped for. When she opened her eyes, she looked confused, before she finally smiled, getting what had been hidden all this time. It seemed like fate had been toying with her, trying to make her think one thing, when in fact, it was the other. She quietly put the cards back in a cabinet, not wanting to tell anyone just yet what she had found out.

She got into bed with Hibiki, and he hugged her tightly, not wanting to let her go after they had both been through so many hardships. But as soon as he was asleep, Cana stealthily got out of the bed and walked outside, knowing she had a duty to fulfil.

* * *

**A Street in Magnolia Same Day- 12:15 (Noon)**

"I am back!" Natsu screamed, hyped. People in the busy street stared at him as if he was weird, especially a Black haired girl who had a disappointed look on her face. He realised it was Ultear, and waved at her with a sorry smile, but she just walked away, not wanting people to associate her with him. As she ignored him, he shrugged to himself and looked at the bright sun high in the sky, glad that he was alive. He could feel the cool spring wind as trees began to get back their green leaves, and he finally felt like he was home after such a long time.

Ultear instead kept on walking while texting Jellal, telling him that she was on her way. Seeing Natsu had triggered past memories, especially one memory that none of them could forget- Erza's death.

_For some reason, even Ultear had been allowed at the funeral. She had gotten the invitation just a day before, and at first, she had wanted to reject in and to not go, but she had decided to go as she knew that she had been partly to blame. Everyone had been surprised to see her, but she couldn't care less about what they thought of her._ _All she could think about was the person who they were going to bury in a few minutes. The girl who had been her friend in childhood, yet her enemy during adolescence. All Ultear could do was glare at the coffin in front of her as the priest talked about Erza. But he didn't even talk for too long, and he didn't allow the people at the congregation to say their eulogies. Gray had been standing next to Ultear, his eyes tearless as he looked at a point in front of him. Everyone at the funeral knew that he was suffering, but they couldn't comfort him in any way. Surprisingly, only a few people came, even though it was a public funeral. They had expected fans of Erza to come, or even all the people she knew, but only close friends came. Natsu couldn't make it, as he probably didn't know about Erza's death after leaving them all like that, leaving Lucy to stand alone, also tearless. No one cried that day, even though they grieved heavily. Jellal was next to Gray on the other side, having his arm around him to reassure him. But Gray stood immobile, not caring about his friend's affection. The strange thing about it all to Ultear was that even Erza's parents hadn't gone to the funeral. Everyone had dismissed it as them being too emotionally unstable to go, but everyone was usually unstable to go to a funeral, so Ultear found it weird.__  
__After the funeral, they all just went home. It had felt like it hadn't even happened, and Ultear questioned why no one had cried that day._

_Maybe it was because no one really believed she was gone, because it didn't seem real that the Titania was really gone._

She shook her head, trying to let the memories go to the back of her as she focused on positive thoughts. Thoughts like how Jellal had finally made his record company- Fairy Tail. It had been a huge success, as all the previous artists from Magnolia Star Agency had joined and there had even been the creation of a new band- Crime Sorcière. The members included Jellal, Ultear as well as Juvia. It had been fun debuting together, Jellal on vocals, Juvia on guitar and Ultear on keyboard, and they had gotten huge success.

As she walked to the company, Ultear saw the University just opposite of Fairy Tail. She saw through the window a familiar Bluenette, and smiled at her before waving. Levi waved back enthusiastically at Ultear, knowing that they had been seeing each other almost every day because the University and music company were right next door to each other. Ultear could see Levi being reprimanded by her professor as she shrunk away, apologising to him for the hundredth time, and Ultear chuckled before walking away.

After Levi had finished her lecture, she rushed to go to the shops, simultaneously getting herself a quick lunch of pizza from one of the stores next door. Not wanting to be picky, as she knew that she only had a limited amount of time, she picked a nice looking kimono that caught her eye first before wearing it and paying for it, removing the tag as she speed walked with the tight kimono. She knew that her hair was probably still messy from her lecture, so she quickly combed it while walking down the stairs to the subway, knowing that she had to get the train that was passing then, or she would be late. Once in the train carriage, she started fixing her hair with accessories and tying it up to look neat and professional. Once she was done with her hair, she applied a bit of powder on her cheeks, as well as some lipstick before the train stopped where she needed to go. She went on to speed walk through the crowd, trying to not let anything touch her dress or hair, or she wouldn't be able to fix it.

She finally saw Gajeel in the distance and hugged him, relieved that she had been right on time. But for some reason, Gajeel was surprised how punctual Levi had been and even asked,  
"Where do you want to go?" She realised that he had completely forgotten what they had supposed to do, so she quickly reminded him by saying,  
"Gaje, don't you remember that your father set up an emergency meeting that every clan member has to go to?" Gajeel looked at her sceptically, not remembering hearing anything of the sort. So he quickly checked his phone only to see that she was completely correct, and if they didn't hurry up, they would be late. Usually, Gajeel didn't care about being late, but he knew that he would get punished if he was in front of everyone who was there, and it was a very humiliating ordeal.

So the couple rushed to the meeting. As Gajeel panted, Levi respectfully knocked on the door, so that the household knew that they were finally there. When the door opened in front of Gajeel, he didn't expect to have confetti being thrown at him and loud noises from every direction, saying "Happy Birthday Gajeel!" In that moment, he began smiling goofily, happy that they had actually remembered. His other birthdays had had to be cancelled because there had always been a war with another yakuza group. His parents had felt guilty that they hadn't had a special party for him, but he had been satisfied to be with the people that he loved. Now, he could see just how much they felt sorry, seeing the house heavily decorated, and everyone congratulating him and making sure he felt special.

So they celebrated his birthday, playing many party games that he had never thought would be seen in such a serious organisation. It was funny to see his mother and father look so ridiculous as they played pranks on each other, even having an ultimate prank war. In the end, his mother came out victorious, and everyone had cheered on for her. Gajeel also got to spend time with his beautiful girlfriend, but he felt like whenever he wanted to get just a bit closer to her, someone would interject and congratulate him, or force him to do a speech. So when the party finally ended, he was relieved, taking Levi's hand before going outside.

"What's wrong?" she asked, surprised that he had suddenly dragged her away, even though they hadn't finished greeting all the guests yet.  
"I wanted to only spend my Birthday with you, but I got to spend it with everyone except you. So, let's go on a little adventure together. Shall we?" he said in a gentlemanly way. Levi felt herself swooning at how cute he was being, so she nodded excitedly at him, wondering where they were going.

Instead of something planned, they spent the day holding hands and walking around different places, not caring where their footsteps took them, just as long as they could spend time together. They talked and laughed, and talked and laughed over and over again. They could practically hear each other's heartbeats speeding up at every interaction with each other, even after he had given her his coat because it was getting darker and colder. Levi knew that she was lucky to find such a caring man who loved her, even though he did call her 'shortie' and mocked her whenever he could. But she also got to tease him in return, and she had even persuaded him to actually read books, which was a hobby of hers. They took the time to learn each other's interests and slowly get to know more and more things they hadn't know about each other before.

As Levi kissed Gajeel's cheek after the long walk, she saw him faintly blush, and she pinched his cheeks because of how cute he was being. When she was about to kiss him again, they both saw Mirajane being courted by a Green haired man. Mira looked quite flustered, and Levi had contemplated whether to save her friend, but Gajeel got angry that she was more focused on Mirajane and the strange man than him, so he quickly pulled her into a sweet kiss before dragging her away.

Mirajane shouted, "Leave me alone! What's wrong with you?!" She didn't care anymore that he wasn't talking, but it aggravated her how she walked with her like a lost puppy. After all, he had been walking with her for over twenty five minutes, and she was sick of him just being next to her. The Green haired man had just laughed at her, his eyes telling her that he found her cute. What she wouldn't give to slap that Green haired man with his stupidly long hair and coat. But she knew that she had a reputation to keep, so she tried to keep her anger in check.

"Don't you want to know my name?" he finally said after following her a bit more.  
"No," she rejected instantly, making him make a sad face. But she couldn't care less if she was showing her demon side, as he was really becoming an insistent pain to her.  
"My name is Freed." She continued walking a bit more, trying to ignore his presence before turning to face him and saying,  
"What will make you stop following me?!" He seemed joyful when he heard her say these words, as if he had come up with an answer a long time ago.  
"On one condition," he whispered, his lips dangerously close to her ears. She agreed right away, wanting to get rid of him, not thinking about the consequences.

His 'condition' was stealing away a kiss from her, his soft lips on her slightly chapped ones, making her eyes open widely. She didn't know how long it had lasted, or how long he had lingered, but the next moment, they were kissing, and the next, they weren't, him coolly saying,  
"Sayonara," after what he had just done to her. All she could do was hold her fingers to her lips as she realised that he had stolen her first kiss...

Mirajane blushed profusely, her whole mind in a jumble as she tried to get why he had suddenly kissed her. Not realising that Levi had come back, only to see her being kissed by Freed, she hugged her fiend while saying, "I can't believe you'll finally have a boyfriend!"

* * *

**Fairy Tail Studios 14:20 PM**

Juvia had finally finished recording with her band, glad that she could show off her skills with a guitar solo. She thanked everyone before saying goodbye, knowing that her man would be waiting outside for her. And she had been completely correct, as she saw a White haired adult standing outside for her with two ice cream cones. She took one of them gratefully and ate it deliciously, her free arm wrapped around his. They catched up on their current events, wanting to know what each of them were doing. While she had chosen to skip University, Lyon had chosen to go into it, wanting to have qualification related to taking care of animals that lived in freezing cold conditions.

Juvia had wanted to ask Lyon about a subject for a while, but she had been nervous to ask him, as she knew that it was still a sensitive subject to him. But she knew that if she didn't ask him, she would never be able to ask him again, so she picked up her courage as she finished with her ice cream and said,  
"So... How is Gray doing these days?" She could feel Lyon instantly freeze, and she saw him contemplating whether to tell her or not. He stayed silent for a while, not saying anything at all as they kept on walking. In his heart, he knew that his younger brother was broken, and that there was nothing he could do to help him. After all, he had seen the girl he loved fall and die right before his eyes, and he knew Gray felt responsible for pushing her to the brink of death, until she had finally taken the leap.

Lyon felt like Gray would never get closure, but he didn't know how to express it to his girlfriend, so he kissed her forehead and said,  
"Only time can tell..."

\\(*^-^*)/

Jellal greeted everyone before packing up in the Studio, knowing that as a young CEO, he still had to take care of mediocre stuff like this to gain the trust of his employees. He had worked hard to make sure that his company had started smoothly, and he knew that not many people could have so much success at such a young age. He felt proud of himself for finally beating Haru and his company which had given no rights to his workers. He had vowed himself to be a fair leader who gave everyone equal chances, and make sure that his employees' talents and potential could soar as high as it could. He smiled at how neat the company was before he made sure to turn off all the lights before he finally went home.

His smile soon turned into a sad frown as he went back home to Gray's house to make dinner for him. Once he was in the kitchen, he searched for a good, nutritional recipe to keep both their energy up. As it heated in the oven, he began doing the chores, washing Gray's dirty clothes and trying to clean up the house to keep it spotless. After Erza's death, Jellal had known that Gray would have probably gone back to how he had been as a child when Ul died. After all, two of the most important women in his life had died- his (adoptive) mother, and the love of his life. Gray was really pitiful, and Jellal felt like he had to take care of Gray, who was like a younger brother to him. Fate had helped them get together after so many years of knowing people they had both known, but never being able to meet directly. Moreover, Lyon hadn't been able to stay as he had gone to live with Juvia, who lived quite far away from Ul's house.

Somehow, Lyon, being the faithful and kind brother he was, had always managed to have regular visits with Gray, prioritising his needs and asking about him always, trying to see if he was recovering. However, Jellal could only see a decline in Gray, who now refused to even come out of his room. Jellal heard the familiar ping of the oven before he took the meal out and walked over to Gray's room. He gently knocked, not wanting to wake him up if he was awake. He didn't hear anything, so he opened the door with care.

At first, he had assumed that Gray was awake, and he had been ready to give him a warm smile, but then he had realised that it was actually Gray's newly acquired habit. Recently, Gray had been talking to himself in his sleep, which he had never done before previously. Jellal had tried to tell Gray of his habit to mutter in his sleep, but he knew that the Raven haired man would probably not listen to him, so he just placed the food on his table. Before he was about to leave, he heard Gray muttering things like,  
"She isn't dead... She can't be.." over and over again. Jellal had wanted to tell him to snap out of it, as he had been there when she had died. He had seen everything, and yet he still continued to delude himself in the hope that she was still alive.

Jellal walked back over to Gray and started patting Gray's head as he could hear tears in his voice. That was another new habit that Gray had acquired. He now also cried in his sleep, as he couldn't control his emotions anymore. Gray suddenly got up, scaring Jellal as he had screamed at him, "SHE ISN'T DEAD!" Disorientated and confused, Gray had looked all around his unfamiliar bedroom before finally meeting Jellal's gaze. Jellal had tried to speak, but he had been interrupted by Gray when he had whispered weakly,  
"Please leave."

Only wanting to be a pillar of support for his friend, he complied. Jellal allowed him to rest in his room while he emptied away his tears, and Jellal had also gotten into a habit of leaving water for Gray to drink, as he knew that he got dehydrated easily because of the amount of times he cried.

And Gray cried a lot that night, but not for just the reason that Jellal had thought.

_(Refer to chapter 9)__  
__Gray had been running and running, hoping to escape the shadow that was following him. He hadn't suspected anything at first, thinking that the person was coincidentally following him. But when he had heard a gunshot pass him by, only inches away from his face, he had known that he had to run away before the bullet found its target. Gray didn't know what he had done wrong, but now he was running for his life. He knew that the person chasing him was an adult, but they didn't have heavy steps, so it was probably a female. He also guessed that they weren't really used to guns, as they had missed him. But he wasn't about to test his luck by seeing how well they could shoot. Just as he was about to finally escape, he bumped into a Scarlet haired girl, and they both went crashing on the floor. He saw that she had a beautiful eyes and he instantly felt bad because he knew that he hadn't been looking forward while running away. But he couldn't stay too long, and his rapid heartbeat reminded him of the person who had been chasing him continuously. He quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her up, but just as he did that, he could hear the footsteps of his chaser again. Not wanting to put the girl in danger, as she had seen both children together, and would probably question the young Scarlet haired girl, he ran with her, his hand still in hers. But they had reached a dead end, and there was no way he could protect her. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see his end. But the Scarlet girl was a fighter, and as the mysterious person shot at him, she used her body to protect him. When he heard the gunshot, he saw that she was on the floor, and that she was holding her eye. With horror, he realised that she was bleeding, and he screamed in terror. The mysterious figure knocked him out cold, and when he woke up, he was on the pavement, ambulance sirens in the vicinity. They had both been robbed of their possessions, and Gray didn't understand why he hadn't been killed that day, but he had owed his life to the Scarlet haired girl._

_That girl was Erza,_ he thought to himself, finally seeing the resemblance after he remembered the face of the girl who had both saved and betrayed him.

**Finished! :D Again sorry for uploading so late, but I will tell you why I uploaded after three months in the last chapter :p. By now, I think it's obvious how many chapters there are, but if you are still unsure, remember what your favourite author (me :3!) always talks about in her A/N? Anyo my adorable royal chibis (and yes, I've gotten into KPOP, and my all time favourite group is BTS! Please support them x3)! And make sure to get good habits like revising a bit everyday (instead of in bulk the day before the exam x3...) and sleeping early, as well as trying to talk to new people, even if you don't have that much courage! Your Unnie/Dongseng (depending on how much younger/older than me you are ;P) will support you! Hwating! ~(*^-^*)~ WAVE DANCE AND HUGS! XXXXX**

**~Roxanne**


	52. Found You

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Hello there again :p Ready to read even more of this? Of course you are ;) I think that I may as well change the genres to tragedy instead of humour xD! But I don't think that anyone would read this story if I did that O-O... Anywho, I can't believe I've gotten 17k views :o! It seems like only yesterday I had 400 xD Because you're being so kind to me, I've kinda become ambitious to be one of the best Grayza fanfictions :p I know it probably won't happen, so let's just move on ;) This chapter isn't too long, but it's quite happy (compared to the previous ones, anyway xD) Enjoy ;)**

**Chapter LII: Found You**

Aries tried to keep herself calm, but she was scared. She didn't know what to do. She had started crying a while ago, but now she couldn't control her emotions anymore, so she just allowed her emotions to flow freely as she hid in the boot of the car. From being a rich Underground heiress, to being a vagabond had been a huge difference that she had had to adapt in three years. Now, she knew all the best hiding spots and even where to find free food, as well as talk to trustworthy people to ask for help. She had believed that hiding would have given her an advantage, but now she felt like she was trapped there, and her timing would be everything if she wanted to leave, or choose to stay.

But now she was trying to recover, and she didn't know how to escape. She didn't think they would look for her in a car boot, but she was starting to suffocate from the lack of air, and she knew that the person chasing her would probably not give up so easily. She tried to think positively, but the only thoughts she could come up with were extremely negative regarding her life span. She didn't feel safe anymore, so she decided resolutely to get out of the car and run away. It was better to be moving than to be a sitting target. Therefore, she slowly got out of the car boot, checking out her derelict surroundings before running for her life.

Using the skills she had gained from a harsh three years, she jumped over several hurdles and even managed to outpace the person who was chasing her. But as she ran, she felt weaker and weaker, and she could hear the distant sound of a helicopter. Using her survival instincts, she gripped on a window and climbed up the wall, having also learned to do parkour. When she reached the roof of the building, she then continued to go on a balcony that was on the opposite house. The helicopter as her timer, she breathed out nervously before taking a leap and jumping on the opposite balcony flawlessly. Not needing to celebrate her success, she rushed inside the house, scaring the residents in that flat before going down the stairs and exiting through the door, back on open ground. But going down the stairs had wasted her time, as now she could hear the helicopter sound even more clearly than before.

Desperately, she ran away, feeling as if even more people were chasing her. Couldn't they just leave her alone?! As she felt herself going to a more derelict car park, she stopped for a second, trying to recover her breath. But she knew that she could only afford to stay there for a few seconds, and soon after ran as fast as she possibly could, feeling freedom inches from her. She suddenly regretted running away from the Underworld, as she felt like no one was her friend. She couldn't rely on anyone to help her, as she could get captured by both sides, and they could do anything to her life, as she hadn't been faithful to either parties. She was tired of running away, and didn't want to play anymore games.

Her pace slightly decreased, and she felt a hand on her wrist turning her around. Her breath hitched in fear, knowing that it was the end for her. What she didn't expect to see was a tuft of Orange hair, now much longer than three years ago. It was Leo...

Leo went on to give her a hug, before realising that she wasn't hugging him back, but instead flinching away. He looked at her with concern before he scanned her body and realised that she had a leg injury. He looked at her sceptically, as he had seen her running for the past few minutes and even doing acrobatics which would have been almost impossible with the leg injury she had. He could see how the blood stained her jeans, and he felt guilty right away for not shouting out her name, but he hadn't known whether she would have gone toward him or run away.

Wanting to redeem himself, he turned around and crouched down, so that she could get on his back and he could piggy-back ride her. At first, she seemed hesitant, wasting several precious seconds before finally giving in, knowing that her leg was in too much pain to even walk a step further. Leo had had to jump off from the helicopter to chase Aries on foot, as he had felt like he could close the distance. Now, he just had to find it, but he couldn't really remember where she had parked it.

As he walked, her on his back, he tried to talk to her.  
"How have you been?" he asked, hoping that she would talk to him. But she said nothing, and he knew that she would probably continue that way. After seeing each other after so many years, he had wondered several things. He didn't know what she had done over the past three years, but he knew that something serious must have happened for her to suddenly have to run away from him. He didn't get why she had been so scared of the helicopter, or why she had even gotten injured. She looked too thin and Aries, who usually was quiet, was not talking at all to him. The previous Aries would have at least spoken to him a bit, and his childhood Aries would have definitely talked to him without hesitation. He felt like as the years passed, they were becoming more distant, and he really didn't like that idea.

Once they had finally reached the helicopter, the door opened to reveal the smiling face of a Blonde girl.  
"Lucy, I've found her!" he said happily, earning him a high five from her. Gently, he placed Aries down on the floor as he talked a bit to Lucy, saying that they had found another Zodiac who was in danger. But before completely letting go of Aries as he put her down, she grabbed onto his shirt and cried on his shoulder. Wanting to be a pillar of comfort to her, he allowed her to cry while simultaneously stroking her hair, not wanting her to tell him anything until she herself felt ready.

Lucy had stayed in silence while driving the helicopter, not wanting to interrupt the two. Lucy was glad for Leo, but she also felt a bit remorseful, as it felt like he had finally gotten his wish, but she still didn't have hers- Natsu. How much more would she have to wait for him? She had already found most of the Zodiacs already, as well as the people who were included in the Stellar Key Mystery, and yet he still wasn't showing up. She knew in reality that she would wait forever for him, but she felt herself losing faith every single day, not trusting herself to welcome him with open arms. She begged Natsu in her mind to return soon healthy and happy, because that was the only thing she could hope for him.

When Aries had finished crying on Leo's shoulder, she finally got a hold of herself before pushing him away with a cold glare while muttering,  
"Thanks."

_Three fucking years I have suffered in the streets. Three years of pain. Misery. Death. She knew that as soon as she left the Underground, it would have been a hard life. She knew that she would have been poor, with no friends or family by her side. But she hadn't thought that she would have gotten all her possessions stolen as soon as she had gone to the outside world. She also didn't think that she would have accidentally gotten into a fight with a prince from another country, who had been dressed plainly.__  
__"Hello miss, do you know how to leave this plebeian area?" he had asked Aries rudely, making her glare daggers at him. She had stayed silent, not wanting to acknowledge whoever this rude individual was.__  
__"Excuse me, do you know, or don't you know?" he had repeated again, a slight hint of anger from his voice.__  
__"Please leave this 'plebeian area' by yourself, and get the hell out of my face," she said while losing her composure. All of a sudden, she had felt her head hit the wall behind her, as she realised that she had been punched in the face by the stranger. Blood trickled down her nose, and she wiped it off with her sleeve, a small laugh coming from her lips. She then proceeded to spit on the man before walking away, but she felt strong hands grab her shoulders from behind. She tried to turn around, and saw a burly looking man, as well as two others with the stranger that she had spit on.__  
__"What the-" were the only words she was allowed to say before she was beaten unconscious. The next thing she knew, she could see the sun blinding her face as she saw a noose in front of her. She couldn't move because they had binded her arms with rope, and she could feel herself gulping from fear.__  
__"This woman had angered our prince, so the only way to pay for her crime is to die. She will have a public execution, unless she can redeem herself to the prince." Then, the prince that she had seen before had walked up to her with a satisfied smile before saying,__  
__"Is there anything you want to say to me? Kiss my foot, and then you will be pardoned." But Aries had learned one thing from the Underworld that would never allow her to do that- to keep her pride. Pride had been everything, and she knew that if she lost it, she would have nothing left of her. So instead, she chose to do the same thing as last time, pretending to kiss his shoe before spitting on it. The crowd had booed at her and thrown stuff at her, but it had been only a small percentage of the crowd. The rest had looked on at her with hope, as they had found her standing up to him admirable. While it had been admirable, she knew that it was inevitable that she would die. She stood on the block of wood that was keeping her life. The prince grinned at her from below and said,__  
__"Do you have any final words?" In that moment, she had managed to smile at him and say,__  
__"Go fuck yourself." She felt her feet hanging on to nothing the next second, and breathing was something that she could barely do. She had already thought up a plan on how not to die, but it was risky and she didn't know if it would work. She pretended to struggle for a bit before closing her eyes and acting dead, the Underground survival training being very useful to her. They had thought her how to survive for a long period of time underwater, and even how to act dead in the case of an emergency. She used that skill set to deceive those who were below her. Also using another useful technique, she had grabbed a small tennis ball that someone had thrown to her, and she had squeezed it rapidly and repeatedly, knowing that it would make her heart rate slow down so much that she would appear dead in their eyes if they tried to check her pulse. For the few seconds that she had pretended to be dead, nothing was happening. The crowd were just in shock, and the executor was standing there to check if she was really dead. Aries tried not to think about how she couldn't breathe no matter what, or move any single part of her body, or her plan would be discovered. After torturous minutes, they finally allowed her to go down, and she still pretended to be dead, trying not to focus on the immense pain from the noose. They checked her pulse form her wrist (luckily), before carrying her and dumping her on the roadside. She exhaled a large breathe of air, glad that she could finally let air get into her lungs. Knowing she had to work quickly to go away from that place, as she knew that if people saw her, they would recognise her from the execution, and she would really be killed. So she wondered for days with no food and water, trying to see if there were any passing vehicles, but none came. On the fifth day, she finally saw a moving truck, and with the little energy she had left, she jumped at the back and hid behind all the luggage, not wanting to do anything. She suffered her days like that, going all over the world trying to find a place where she could rest, the execution being always on her mind as she knew that they would try to find her if they discovered that she hadn't died on that day._

Leo snapped her out of her thoughts by asking her, "What happened to you?" in a worried tone. She decided to give him the cold shoulder, knowing that whatever hardship he had suffered in the past, it was nothing compared to the three years she had acted like a fugitive. While he tried to pry information out of her, she made herself ploy how to escape from them as soon as they were back on the ground. Leo, noticing her turbulent eyes looking everywhere restlessly, as if she was looking for a way to escape, suddenly hugged her, hoping she would stop. She had stopped looking around, but instead of reciprocating his hug, she pushed him away again, crying and shivering to herself silently. Leo, knowing that she would not talk to him no matter how much he pried, decided to finally leave her alone. But knowing the type of person that she was, he tied up her arms and ankles to keep her from escaping.

Leo went to sit in the seat next to Lucy. She gave him a pointed look and he just sighed before shaking his head, telling her that his plan to get her to talk had failed. They both stayed in silence for a very long time before he remembered something which had been on his mind for quite a while.  
"Ah! Lucy! I have good news to tell you," he said with a sheepish smile. She raised her eyebrows at him, wondering what he wanted to tell her.  
"Natsu has been spotted in Magnolia," he whispered to not wake up Aries. Lucy, not knowing whether she had heard him correctly, had asked him to tell her again, wanting to make sure that he was telling her the truth.  
"I said, Natsu is back in Magnolia!" he repeated a bit more loudly, so that the Blonde could hear him. Her eyes were wide as she heard the news, disbelieving.  
"Are you sure it wasn't another person?" she questioned, wanting to verify the truth. He just chuckled at her before saying,  
"Lucy, how many people do you know have Pink hair?" he asked with a pointed look.  
"Salmon..." Lucy had whispered, Leo staring at her as if she was strange.  
"What did you say?" he asked. She shook her head, smiling at the memories. Wanting to find Natsu as quickly as possible, she landed the helicopter before saying, "I'm going to find him, so take care of her, okay?" She ran away while opening the door, startling Aries awake.

She had started running all around the place, asking if they had seen a man with spiky, Pink (as she knew that they would not understand if she said Salmon) hair. They had all led her to different directions until she rushed around and stopped for a breather, gasping for air before telling herself that she would work harder to find him. Just as she raised herself up to start running again, she looked at the opposite shop to see a man drinking a suspiciously red liquid on a bench. Her mouth went wide open as she realised that it was Natsu relaxing in front of a restaurant, trying to drink hot tea but failing. Instead, he had spilled it on his trousers, scalding himself before finally noticing the pair of eyes in front of him. He smiled brightly and waved at the Blonde woman.

She pounced on him, before he even had enough time to shout, "Hello!" After blushing at her brashness, he kissed her gently on the cheek, glad to be back.

**(Refer to chapter 5, 1st paragraph)**

_"Lucy, tomorrow, I will be going to Magnolia to live there for a few months. Your mother has said that she doesn't want to go with me unless you come as well. So, it will be best if you just come, as it will waste time if you don't go; it will probably mean that I will have to live there anyway. If that's the case, it means that the whole family will have to move there. So make it simple for us and just accept," he said forcibly, not allowing her to talk once until he had finished. Young seven year old Lucy had started tearing up, and her mother had rushed to her aid, wondering why she was crying._  
_"No!" she cried vehemently over and over again, not wanting to have to suffer going to another town yet again just because her father didn't care about her happiness._

But now she knew that she was truly happy living in Magnolia, and she had found her beloved once again.

* * *

**Hospital 19:43**

Gray and Jellal had been standing outside the hospital. Gray had finally gotten out of the bed, and the first place he had wanted to go to was the place where he had last seen her. Jellal had tried to dissuade him, not wanting him to relive the memories and suffer all over again. But Gray had insisted, saying that he wanted to have a bit more closure on the whole affair. So that was why they were there, and Jellal couldn't help but look over regularly at Gray to check his expression, but he had a perfectly blank face.

While looking in the distance, they suddenly saw Cana, who was shouting something at them, trying to get their attention. But they were too far away, and they didn't know what she was seeing. They saw her mouthing something loudly, but they really couldn't understand, and they mouthed at her to try to sign to her to come closer before she spoke. When she got even closer, they could slightly hear her mouthing,  
"Erza," repeatedly, getting their attention right away. She wasn't saying anything else, so they hoped that she would hurry up and talk, as Jellal could see Gray become more and more agitated. A car passed by the shouting figure of Cana, and the next thing they knew, Cana wasn't there anymore. They looked around, trying to find where she was, but she was nowhere to be seen. They suddenly got a phone call, which had startled them. They looked to see that it was Makarov, and they picked up right away,  
"Don't worry about Cana, she's just feeling a bit unwell."

\\(*^-^*)/

She felt a bit groggy after they had given her something to drink, and Cana soon fell unconscious. Aquarius and Makarov both stared at the sleeping girl, knowing that she had almost ruined everything.  
"She knows too much Master... She almost tried to change fate," Aquarius whispered to him in a worried tone. He just nodded in approval at her statement, hoping that the Brunette could wake up soon so that he could explain everything.

**And done :p I hope that you keep on reading, as I know it's really short, but the next one is probably longer. Stay happy my adorable royal chibis and I hope you have many fateful encounters ;p! HUGS! \\(*^-^*)/ XXXXX**

**~Roxanne**


	53. Not as it Seems

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: Hello you amazing lifeforms! How has life been treating you? :D Are you doing well in your life? If you are, continue to do so! ;) And if you aren't, I'll give you a hug so that you can feel better, and know that I'll support you until the end, so try to do your best to recover and be happy! Happiness should never be taken for granted, and you shouldn't live life just for the sake of living, but try to find what makes you the happiest in life so that you can live the way you want to, not the way society wants you to ;) (You can clearly see I've been too obsessed with BTS, but what can I say? xD They are the most adorable oppas in the world :p)**

**Chapter LIII: Not as it Seems**

Gray and Ultear sat in silence while they heard the publisher blathering on as they sat at the editorial company. Gray and Ultear were holding hands, Ultear gripping on a bit more tightly than Gray, excited about what the publisher then went on to say. He started saying,  
"And this is what your article will look like," while hoping that the usually displeased Ultear would be satisfied.

**_THE MOST BEAUTIFUL COUPLE IN HISTORY_**

**_The rumoured couple have been confirmed to be legit as we took a photo of them having the same wedding rings, as well as going to a bridal shop together. Many people had seen them together, but they had never said out loud what they were thinking. After all, it wasn't often that your childhood friend who later became famous would overlook such a handsome looking man. They both have that regal air about them, and when fans of Crime Sorcière had heard about it, both genders had been happy for them, but also jealous. The males had even begged her to not marry him, while the girls had said that she was marrying such a beautiful husband, and that she was definitely going to be a happy bride. Ultear, our beautiful pianist, had stayed humble all the time, saying that she felt blessed to have found the one for her. Not much is known about the man who is going to marry her, other than his first name- Gray. He had also been previously seen in music videos by a famous deceased artist, who everyone had thought he was dating at the time. Yet, they were proved wrong, as Ultear had said in a statement that they had been betrothed by their parents since a young age, and they had met up throughout their lives to reconfirm their relationship, which stayed strong for over nine years. Now, the couple is having their wedding day soon, and they have announced together that anyone is allowed to come to their wedding, as the church and wedding reception will be in especially large venues that can fit up to almost one million people. The wedding will be the most anticipated event that has happened in Magnolia since ten years ago, and it is even more anticipated than the royal wedding. Make sure to get your random tickets from all retailers! It's an event that cannot be missed.._**

And it went on and on, singing praises at the engaged couple.  
**(I hope previous chapters with Ultear and Gray now make much more sense to you :D I wanted to write in bold, THEY ARE ENGAGED several times, but I had reserved it for chapter 53, so I knew I had to shroud it with mystery x3... Remember when Ultear was asked in chapter 20, "What is your relationship with Gray?" And she was like, "He's my f-" It was fiancé xD...)**

Gray moaned, "I need to fix stuff for the wedding, so I don't really have time to read all of it. If you want to change anything, go ahead, you have full control. Call me if you need anything, okay?" he said before standing up, getting ready to leave.  
"Gray?" Ultear stopped him while looking up at him. He turned around to face her, confused that she was stopping him. She usually allowed him to leave straight after they had finished something, and he really didn't want to stay any longer.  
"You forgot to kiss me," she said sweetly with a pouty face, making the publisher coo at how cute she was acting in front of her future husband. Gray smiled sweetly before going over to her and kissing her on the cheek, hoping that she wouldn't ask for anything more. Luckily, she didn't say anything, so he assumed that she had let him off with just that.

Gray really didn't think that the day would ever come when he had to marry Ultear. Yes, he had known since he was young what he would go through, but it still came as a shock to him when they had mutually finalised a date for their marriage. At nineteen years of age, he was going to get married. It had all been planned in the past, and he didn't think there was a way to escape from it. He felt bound, but there was nothing he could do. After all, without Erza, he didn't want to fight with fate anymore. He had always meant to marry Ultear, and he had tried to forget about the deal by dating Erza, the love of his life. He remembered clearly how he had broken the fragile girl's heart just because Ultear had told him that he had to, because they had to get married sooner or later, and she would just get in the way. He knew about their relationship, and yet he hadn't tried to fight Ultear's demands, because he was truly powerless. She owned everything that Ul did because she was the only legitimate child, but he had made it seem to his friends that he had only broken up with Erza to get money from Ultear. But it wasn't just that!

Ultear's father, the infamous Haru, had forced Ul **(refer to chapter 25)** to sign the contract in which Ultear had to be married off to one of Ul's adoptive sons, and Haru had chosen Gray, as he had always hated him more than Lyon. Gray had not known about it until Ul had told him, and she had begged him for forgiveness that day.

_"I'm so sorry Gray," she had insisted, the young Raven haired boy confused why his mother was in tears in front of him.__  
__"What's wrong mum?" he had started calling her that, a few months after she had adopted him._  
_"I'm so sorry Gray, could you find it in your heart to forgive mummy?" she had begged the child in tears. He had held her hands tightly as he said,_  
_"Mummy, please don't cry. I will love you no matter what.." But Ul wasn't listening, guilt overriding everything else._  
_"Love makes people stupid and weak, " she had started, gulping down her tears. She had paused for a few seconds, making Gray wait for her reason why she had kept on blaming herself. "Because of me, you have to get married to Ultear when you are older... Just because I caved in and wanted to find out where he was.." she cried, hugging her child tightly. When he had heard her mention 'he', Gray had instantly assumed it was an ex of Ul. After all, he had known right from the beginning that Ul had never loved Haru Milkovich, and it seemed like he didn't love her either, even though he was the one who had proposed to her. Their relationship seemed very odd as soon as he had entered the house, and he had always told Ul to divorce him. When she had finally divorced him, they had been living happily together, but now it seemed like she was suffering once again because of that man._  
_"It's fine Ul! We can just annul the contract, can't we?" Gray asked. But Ul shook her head in dismay, saying,_  
_"That man will kill me before I can even get my hands on that contract."_

Those were the last words that he remembered from Ul, before she had gone outside, and had never come back. He should have stopped her. He should have known that as soon as he had the chance, he would attack her. In a vague recollection of his mind, he could remember being there when Ul had been killed, but he had gotten severe amnesia from that day. He had hoped that his memories would come back, but they never had, so he had to suffer nineteen years of being a witness to Ul's murder, but not remembering one single thing that had happened that night. All he could remember was that she was dead, and he had done nothing to save her life.

But it hadn't been just him who had discovered it, but also Jellal, who had turned out to be his best friend throughout the whole ordeal. After months of searching, investigating and prying from several sources, they had finally been able to get knowledge on the events that had happened during their childhood, as Gray could not remember a single thing. But one thing they still had failed to do was find the original copy of the contract that stated that Ultear and Gray should get married. They had thought that it would have been with Haru's belongings, but all the pieces of papers had been completely useless to them. The original print was nowhere to be found, and they knew that if they couldn't find it, Gray would have to marry Ultear no matter how much he wanted to protest. After his beautiful angel had left earth, he had wanted to stay celibate forever, but he couldn't do that if he was going to be forced to marry Ultear.

The thing that Jellal had discovered was that there were two versions of the copy. The altered version was the one that Ultear had easy access to, but there had been a hidden copy that Ultear had hidden the knowledge of from Gray, and that copy was the original one. That original one had a way to void the wedding; a way to make Ultear and Gray not have to be forced to get married. He knew that Haru had made a second copy so that whatever Ul had written to save him could be gone, while still having her signature. Wherever it was, the two boys had promised each other to find it, so that Gray could find his happiness that wasn't with Ultear.

Jellal, who loved his sister dearly, wanted to see her happy, but he knew that she wouldn't be happy with Gray. It was like a repeat of the situation with Lisanna and Natsu, were it was more just an obsession than actual love. If she loved Gray, it would have actually been a different story, and he wouldn't have been trying to help Gray, but he knew his sister too well to know that it wasn't love. It was obvious to him that Gray wasn't the one for her, and that Ultear should stop blaming Erza for being gone. When he had gone to visit his sister to comfort her after the funeral, he had heard her scream from her bedroom,  
"She is not gone! Why are you dead!? Huh? If you're dead, don't you know how easy it is for me to make Gray mine?! Didn't you say that you would fight for him? Don't you love him?! So why the hell are you now gone from this world?! You fucking deserve to die if you made me think that you would try to get him back! Arghhh! You are such a weak bitch, and you don't deserve his love for you if you can just disappear so quickly! Because you're so weak, I'll steal him from you, and you won't ever be able to see him smile again for you, got it?!"

He had wanted to help her, but he knew that she would go on talking to herself for at least another hour in anger. He had never known that Ultear had actually wanted Erza to fight for Gray if she ever found out that they had been engaged for such a long time. But she had gone away too quickly, and now Ultear felt like she was to blame, but tried to always outwardly mask it by blaming the girl in question- Erza.

* * *

**Magnolia Bank 17:23**

Aries, as soon as Leo had removed the rope from her ankles and wrists, had sprinted away, not wanting to stay there. Not really having a plan, she tried to focus on the things she needed the most. After all, she was right in the town where her Underground family were, and if she stayed there, she would feel trapped, and she would know that they would drag her back with them right away. But she didn't want that, as she knew that she hadn't been faithful, so they would distrust her, and no one would treat her like when she had spent her childhood with them. They didn't see her as their precious princess, but as a vicious snake who would just betray them. If they had listened to what she had said, they should have been able to run away to safety before inevitably having to return back to their home.

She thought only for a few seconds before she soon realised that the only way was to get a large sum of money. As she looked to the left, she conveniently saw that there was a bank right next to her. Not wanting to waste any more time, she headed in that direction, not caring about her appearance or how her injury was still hurting her. She just wanted to get away from this town that held so many painful memories to her that she wanted to quickly forget.

The CCTV cameras stared at the suspicious woman with alert eyes. It wasn't just that she was acting strange, but she looked like she had no money on her. Her clothes were ripped and grimy, and her jeans had a very evident pool of blood on them. They stared at her intently, thinking that maybe she would try to rob the bank. Just as she had started to move closer to the reception desk, an Orange haired man held her hand and kissed her neck. Or so the cameras thought, as he was actually just whispering to her,  
"It's very obvious what you are about to do..." in a disappointed tone.  
"Just leave me alone," she had growled silently at him, hoping he would just let her go. But Leo wouldn't let the girl he had loved for so long suddenly leave him for the third time. So as he held her hand, he went to the reception desk together and he withdrew some money, telling the receptionist that they had been hiking and she had gotten lost overnight, so after hours of searching, he had finally found her, but because they had no money, he had to take some to pay for some medication, as well as clothes for her. She readily accepted that explanation from the handsome man, and the security had lost almost all suspicion on the couple.

They walked normally out of the door, Aries pulling a grumpy face as Leo contrasted hers with a loving smile. When they were near his car, he opened the back seat door and before she could run away, he pushed her in forcefully, not caring too much if he hurt her. She had hurt him too many times, and he needed to put some sense into her. He also entered the car, making sure that all the doors were locked before looking angrily at her and shouted,  
"What's wrong with you? I've never seen you act so childish! After all this time that I've known you, when did you ever become a petty criminal? Did you think that you would be able to actually steal any money?! With an injured leg?! Are you crazy Aries?!" He stopped when he saw her hand trembling violently, and he instantly felt really bad. He had only wanted to reprimand her, but he didn't want the person he cared for dearly to feel hurt.

"I'm sorry..." he said as he reached for her hand. Surprisingly, she didn't flinch away from his touch, but actually chose to hold his hand instead. He gripped her hand tightly and kissed it with his eyes closed.

* * *

**Magnolia Park 20:10**

Even though they looked very odd to the people who were still at the park on that late night, Juvia and Lyon had already planned from long ago to go on a swimming date. It was unusual that anyone ever used the park's lake to actually swim, but Juvia and Lyon were both competent and confident swimmers. It had been a while since they had been on a date, instead of just walking and talking. So when both their schedules had been free, they had chosen to go on a romantic swimming date.

_"Lyon, where do you want to go when we are both free?" Juvia asked her lover while groggily sleeping on his shoulder on a bus.__  
__"Well, what can we both do quite well? I want to do something active!" he said enthusiastically._  
_"Mm.. well, we can both swim?" she countered, not really listening to herself._  
_"Then we can go on a swimming date!" he had suddenly shouted out, startling Juvia before she went back to trying to sleep on his shoulder. She laughed at him for a while, and he had flicked her on the forehead, not understanding why she was mocking him._  
_"Lyon, are you actually serious? What swimming pool would be open at eight o' clock in the night?" she had asked on the verge of sleep._  
_"Well, we can just go to the lake in Magnolia Park then," he had smiled at her. She had fallen asleep, not really listening to him anymore._

So now they were actually at the border between the lake and the park. Lyon had worn blue boxers, while she had chosen to wear a stripy one piece, not wanting to wear a bikini, as she was still embarrassed to show her body to Lyon. They swam in the night for several minutes, making sure to have races and splash each other with water as much as possible. When they finally saw land after fifty minutes of swimming, they decided to rest there, not knowing what they would bump into. They saw an unfamiliar cabin that was segregated from everything else. Curious, Lyon asked Juvia,  
"Have you seen it before?" She shook her head in response, not knowing why there was suddenly a house there. It must have been there for around three years, as they had gone on a date like this exactly three years ago, and there had been nothing but trees there.

They knocked a few times, not hearing anything. Being too inquisitive, they decided to enter, saying that it was their duty to investigate anything that felt fishy. Moreover, it would be unlikely that the owner of the cabin actually lived there, as it was too small, even for one person to live there. However, they had just been deluding themselves, as it was a very high class cabin with expensive looking technology, as well as several stacks of documentation. They scanned the documentation a bit closer to see that it was several stacks of diaries, as well as wills and testimonies. They read the first letter, only to realise that it was addressed to Haru Milkovich.

They both gasped in horror. After three years of him being missing, they finally found the man who had been the cause of everything. Suddenly, they heard footsteps coming from the distance and as they were terrified, they hid under his table, which covered them only from the side that didn't have the desk chair. So if he decided to sit on his desk chair, they would be discovered, and they wouldn't know what would happen to them. So they strained their ears and tried to hold in their breaths as they heard that he had entered the same room that they were in. He sat down loudly on the chair that was the farthest away from his desk and closest to the fireplace, making them smile with relief.

But the relief was not long lived, as they still had no way to escape. Haru was sitting on the chair closest to the exit, so he would spot them right away even if they tip toed. They strained their ears to hear him pouring a liquid (probably wine) into a wine glass. They then heard him say,  
"I had to do what I did! I had to be the villain, but they don't know who the real villain is! I was only the fucking scape-goat for that person, and yet the world blames me and hates me for things that I had little to no influence on!" he muttered angrily. They had heard only a bit of that sentence, not knowing what he was on about.

They heard what seemed to be a gun click, and they realised with horrified faces that maybe Haru Milkovich would suicide. Instead, they just heard loud sobs from a man they had never expected to cry. Feeling like they were intruding into a private moment, they tried to cover their ears to stop feeling pity for him, as they still saw him as the main villain.

"I've killed no one for goodness sake! I can't even go to my beautiful daughter's wedding because of all the people who would arrest me! I fucking allowed Ul to sign it just so I could see her happy; so she could forgive me for being a terrible father..." and he continued with his babbling. But Lyvia found it hard to swallow, not wanting to believe the man who everyone was assured that was the culprit for almost every crime that they had been the victims of. Finally, they heard him walk away, and they sighed in relief, glad that he was gone, so that they could finally do what they had intended to do as soon as they had discovered it was Haru Milkovich's house.

Hearing Haru had confirmed one thing- that he had the original copy of the contract that Ul had signed, stating that Ultear and Gray would get married. As they knew it was in that cabinet, they got out of their hiding space, seeing the wine bottle was almost empty. They carefully leafed through the documents, only to find that there were actually several important things, not just the contract. After searching through the whole pile, they had finally found it. But they knew that it would be a waste to just take that, as there was so much more incriminating evidence, as well as self written diaries that they could use against him. So they took the whole pile and got out of the cabin, their hearts beating incredibly fast at the crime that they had committed.

"Can we really do this?" Juvia had whispered, scared that Haru was in the vicinity.  
"We have to! If we don't, then we won't have any evidence against Haru Milkovich, as they won't listen to just circumstantial evidence in court!" They had not been able to look at everything but they hoped that it all contained useful information. Juvia gulped before finally agreeing, only thinking about serving justice.

But Juvia was getting tired of holding the heavy stack of papers she held, and Lyon knew he couldn't physically hold them. They went quickly back inside, and they shoved all the papers in four suitcases that Haru had left lying around. When they could finally feel a bit more comfortable, as the weight had lessened, they knew that they really couldn't swim back, as they didn't think the suitcases were water resistant. Seeing a boat in front of the cabin, they apologised out loud before getting on the boat and rapidly escaping from Haru's grip.

* * *

**Levi's Apartment 00:00**

Levi had gotten four suitcases from Juvia and Lyon, as well as a contract which was at least thirty pages long. They had told her that they had 'borrowed' it from Haru Milkovich's house, and that they would only report his location to the police when they found incriminating evidence. But first, they had wanted to know if there was any way to stop the wedding between Gray and Ultear. They all knew that Gray had been perfect with Erza, and that he would never be happy if he got married with Ultear.

The only way to save him was in to find something in that original copy of the contract, and if they did, Gray could be free, and Ultear could also try looking for someone who was best for her.  
"Can you do it?" they had asked sceptically, knowing that the wedding was three days away.  
"You really have little faith, don't you?" Levi had said while glaring at them.  
"Sorry Levi... It's just that there are at least a thousand pieces of paper to read, and I don't think that I've ever read that much, so I don't even know if you can read that much in such a short time..."  
"... I'll do my best," was all she said before taking the suitcases and closing the door in their faces.

Once she had finished her University coursework, she picked up her reading glasses that she hadn't used in a while, before opening the first suitcase. Apparently, the first one was the most important, so she chose to focus on that. In reality, she didn't think that she had ever read that much in such little time, but she wanted to help her friend. After all, thanks to Erza, she had been able to meet the kind hearted guy that was Gray, who she had gotten to know more during the past three years.

Levi had been one of the few people that had known that Erza had been suffering with cancer, and she hadn't even been able to tell Lucy until she was dead. Lucy had felt betrayed, but Levi knew that Erza hadn't told Lucy as she had already been going through a lot. She prayed a bit to Erza, telling her that she would try her hardest to save the man she loved, as she had always wanted the best for them. She turned the first page, cursing the tiny writing that she had to face. The annoying thing was that she couldn't even skip any of it. She sighed before getting ready to not get any sleep for at least three days.

**This chapter is also done :D We are really getting close to the end now! :D And if you didn't realise yet, I've been uploading the last few chapters at the same time, as well as trying to correct any previous mistakes from chapter 1 onwards :D I tried my hardest, and my eyes almost bled at the amount of hours I spent re-reading my words xD But I did it all for you guys, so I hope you're happy! And my adorable royal chibis, I didn't change anything except for spelling and maybe some sentences if they didn't make sense :) Stay beautiful XXXXX****  
****\\(*^-^*)/**

**~Roxanne**


	54. Near the End

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: As you may have guessed, this is the penultimate chapter xD If you didn't guess until now, I think that it should be very obvious by now: THE LAST CHAPTER NUMBER IS 55! I mean, I gave you so many clues xD My favourite number is five, what did you expect it to be? xD And if I made it any longer than 55, I think that I would cry, because I'm a lazy person who always procrastinates, so how come I've had to do so many hours of writing?! xD What is life if I can't procrastinate?! xD Once I finish this story, I'm just going to stalk BTS :p You don't know how happy I am (they even made a dance for bapsae)! I'm too hyped by all their songs, so I'll just say that I'll tell you my reason for uploading all these chapters on the 25th on the last chapter ;) Enjoy my royal chibis :p**

**Chapter LIV: Near the End**

**Wedding venue 10:15 AM**

Gray and Ultear where at a wedding venue, getting ready for the final preparations for their wedding. Their wedding was in a day, and Ultear had wanted to make sure that everything was immaculate. She checked the menu, the seating plan and even if the flowers coordinated with the decor of the room. It was her special day, and she knew that she wanted everything to be absolutely perfect, even making sure to taste all the dishes to check if they were suitable for her high class tongue (even though she was supposed to be on a diet). Whenever she asked Gray for an opinion on any of the pre-mentioned things, he had always looked at her with a blank stare before smiling and saying, "Sounds good to me."

But the reason why Gray was being so out of it was because all he could think about was how he and Erza would have planned their wedding day, if she was still by his side.

_"What do you want the cake flavour to be?" asked the chef kindly, wanting the bride to have the cake that she wanted.__  
__"Strawberry cheesecake!" she had shouted without hesitation, making even Gray chuckle silently at his fiancée. _  
_"Erza, can't we choose something else? I think the guests will get sick and tired of eating that cake, especially if they have to eat it every time they are with you..." As he had predicted as soon as he had said those words, she had given him a vehement glare, silencing him right away. She then went on to sweetly smile at the chef before saying,_  
_"Please ignore this bastard future husband and do a strawberry cheesecake one, thank you!" she had finished before bowing low to show her respect. In actuality, they had actually planned their wedding a bit last minute, and their wedding was coming up extremely soon. Erza had blamed Gray, saying that while she had been studying in University, and then working at the law firm, he had done absolutely nothing, so now she had to take a break from both things and try to fix what he hadn't even began._  
_"You promised I would get my cheesecake!" she had reprimanded Gray with a pout, making him pinch her cheeks at how cute she was being. Instead of playing along with him, she slapped his fingers away, telepathically telling him that he was lucky that that was the only place she had intended to hurt him._  
_Next they had to go and buy her wedding dress, as Gray had offered to go himself, but she had just shouted at him in annoyance while saying,_  
_"I don't want you to see me in my dress, it's apparently bad luck... And why the hell do you even know my sizes?!" she had asked when he had told her that he already knew her measurements, so she didn't have to go._  
_"...Because I hug you every day, stare at you every day, and see you every day in my dreams," he had said dreamily. Instead of getting the reaction he had thought he would get (her blushing profusely and kissing him), she decided to say,_  
_"As Natsu always says, once a pervert, always a pervert!" before kicking him in the shin. He fell to the floor in pain, wondering why she hadn't changed after so long. In fact, it seemed to get worse, as she frequently hit him now and didn't blush as much. But he wasn't about to give up so easily, so he quietly followed her to the wedding dress shop, glad that the doors were all glass so he could see her get into the fitting room before he stealthily also entered the shop, sitting on a seat and pretending to be a family member of another girl who was wearing a wedding dress, complementing her as if it was his job. But then his Scarlet angel came out of the shop, and his jaw dropped to the floor. He had seen Erza Scarlet look ethereal several times, but this was the first time he had actually thought that maybe she was actually an angel, too pure for this world; his eyes and his soul. Erza twirled shyly, her white wedding dress having a plain corset, but the lower half having a puffy skirt that was decorated with transparent diamonds and gems. Erza turned to look at the mirror, only to catch sight of Gray staring at her. However, he still hadn't realised, so she had sneaked up on him before tickling him to death while he begged her to stop, hoping that he would learn his lesson. After that, he had not been allowed back into the shop, and she had told him that she would definitely not pick that dress, as it now had bad luck. But he knew secretly that she had actually bought that dress, and he couldn't wait for the day when he would see her in it._  
_Finally, the last thing to do was to practice dancing. They had both assumed that they were proficient dancers, but when they started, Gray had missed a beat and had accidentally stepped on Erza's foot. With a lot of patience, they had continued practicing, but he had continued stepping on her foot over and over again, making her shout at him several times in frustration._  
_"What's wrong with you!?" she had asked him, trying to get why he was so bad. But in fact, Gray was not a bad dancer at all. He had actually learned how to ballroom dance from Ul, but he was purposely acting as if he couldn't dance so that Erza would stay with him longer and hold on to him more. _  
_"I dunno!" he had replied happily back, making her mutter under her breath with disapproval. "Honey, you can't do that whenever you're angry at me, or I won't know why you're angry at me in the future," he had whispered in her ear before winking, making the familiar blush that resembled her hair come back. Pleased with himself, he then continued to get slightly better, but never perfect, and that was how they had wasted two hours practicing dancing..._

"Gray? Gray!" she had called to him several times, finally snapping him out of his thoughts. Gray focused his eyes to see a Black haired figure, and his smile soon turned into a frown as his beautiful dream was slowly going away."Gray, are you listening to me?" Ultear asked, a bit worried for her future husband. He gulped before nodding, hating that he was brought back into reality. If only he could have stayed with the image of Erza for a few more minutes...

* * *

**Fairy Tail University 13:05**

Meanwhile, the gang was at the University trying to think of a way to sabotage the wedding. Gray had somehow been also asked to participate, even though it was his wedding. He laughed at all their crazy ideas, hoping that they wouldn't actually put their plans into action, or they could destroy the whole of Magnolia! As the group finally quietened down, Gray and Jellal chose to speak about what they had discovered just a few days ago.

"I can't believe that Haru's just living in a cabinet, thinking he can escape!" Jellal screamed, outraged. Gray patted his back, trying to calm him down before saying.  
"Then don't you think we should pay him a little visit?" Jellal looked at his friend in confusion, wondering whether he was actually serious. After Lyon had called Gray at midnight, he hadn't expected it to be very important, as he usually tended to worry over nothing. But as he had continued talking, he knew that they had found jackpot, and he had thanked Lyon and Juvia for being such a weird couple that would go on swimming dates in the evening before hanging up. After thinking of what to do for a while, he had called Jellal over, telling him the new piece of information he had required. He hadn't known how Jellal would react, but he hadn't expected him to say, "So what?" It had actually been the last thing that he had wanted to hear from Jellal, so he had spent the rest of the days trying to convince him that they should go there and talk to him, to find out what exactly he had done and how he could nullify the contract.

"If we go there, we have to threaten him, or he won't listen to us; he will just laugh in our faces," Jellal had whispered as they were leaving the University to get his car. Gray had stared in shock at his friend, wondering what he meant by 'threaten'. He hoped it wouldn't be something violent, as he knew that even though Haru had little power, he would still be able to sue them.  
"What if we hold a gun to his head?" he had said in a serious way, making Gray want to revolt against the idea right away. Jellal laughed at Gray's expression before saying,  
"I'm joking! Please don't actually think that I'm that vengeful that I would do that..." he said, his tone of voice indicating that he was hurt that Gray had made that assumption. Gray had muttered sorry to his friend before they walked in silence for a few seconds. Then, Jellal resumed speaking by saying,  
"What if we tell him that we have all that evidence against him that Juvia and Lyon had taken? He must have found them important if he had risked taking them with him!" Gray high fived his friend, glad that they were not going to become young criminals.

They used the boat that Juvia and Lyon had stolen from Haru, nervous to be meeting the man who had disappeared for three years. They hadn't known what to expect, but they certainly had not imagined Haru just sitting there eating his lunch, as if he had known that they would come. They had both gulped nervously, not knowing who would take the lead. Jellal decided to, as he was his father.  
"Why... Why did you do everything that you have done?" he had asked quietly, not knowing whether those words would have come out, but they had. Haru had chuckled at him loudly before he had continued to masticate his food, still seeing Jellal as a little child. Wanting to intervene, Gray said, "Answer, or we will burn every document that you previously own!" This had caught his attention, but for only a short span of time as he had pretty much realised that it had been them who had taken the only things he had left. After all his documents were gone, he had been expecting a visit from a pair of youngsters, but he hadn't expected it to be both Gray and Jellal, who were closely related to Ul.

"Why, you say? C'mon Jellal, I thought you were a bit smarter than that," he chuckled more, seeming to enjoy the pained face of Jellal.  
"Was it greed? Lust? Ambition?! Tell me!" Jellal had screamed, losing his composure. He badly needed answers, yet nothing Haru was saying was of any use to him.  
"Let me give you some help then... I wasn't part of anything... I was being controlled by Esca, that stupid son of a bitch... She controlled me all this time while I didn't know her identity, but now I do, and I fucking regret ever marrying her..."

Jellal and Gray both stood silent, wondering who the 'she' was. More importantly, Haru had been married to someone before Ul?!  
"That woman had tricked me for so long, making me and other people her puppets as she controlled us like a puppet master. I didn't think she would be so obsessed with me to kill both Ul and your mother, Jellal..."  
"Stop blaming your crimes on other people!" Jellal had whispered in anger, unsure of himself. He didn't know whether to believe the man who was in front of him, or the person who was inside of him. But one thing he knew for certain was that Haru was not lying. When Haru lied, he had a habit of putting his fingers near his lips, as if he was about to bite them, but never actually doing the deed. Instead, his arms were on the armchair, and he continued talking in an unfamiliar, sad voice.  
"She had been the one running the company, making sure to provide money in return for her having full control of rules, as well as my actions. She made me stupidly think that she was my benefactor, but she turned out to be the witch that I divorced, under a different name while using an abnormal voice. I was fooled all that time, and all my efforts to make the company the best in the world was overshadowed by her strictness. I guess she really didn't want to let go of me, but kept me on a tight leash... That woman Sayla..."

Their heads snapped up when they heard the familiar name... That name was of someone they knew very closely... Someone who had pretended to be their friend all that time...

Jellal and Gray rushed back to the University, knowing that she was there while hoping their friends were okay. For some reason, Gray felt a little groggy, as if he was remembering something his past had purposely blocked out. He could remember a figure chasing him and the Scarlet haired girl down before finally facing him and shooting.

That person was Sayla.

\\(*^-^*)/

Sayla had placed listening devices inside Haru's cabinet, so when she had heard him talking about her before finally revealing her name, she knew that it was time to act. She thanked her young figure and even younger body for allowing her to fool those children so easily. She smiled kindly at Juvia before grabbing her hair and holding a gun to her head, making sure that no one was behind her.  
"Nobody move, or I will shoot her with no hesitation," she had said calmly. When they had seen her holding a gun, they had instantly felt scared, and had even been surprised by the harsh tone in her voice. Hibiki had just glared at her, knowing right from the start that something had been fishy.

"P-p-please let Juvia go.."Juvia had whispered quietly, her bad habit returning from fear.  
"Shut up you stupid girl. Don't you dare speak, or I will just shoot you and kill your next friend, and then the next, until all of you are dead." Her harsh voice had made Sayla sound much older, and they could finally see her age. She wasn't the same age as them, but at least twice their age. Juvia whimpered in fear, hoping that Lyon was okay and that he wasn't too scared for her as she kept her eyes closed.  
"Why do you fairies always have to get involved, huh? But don't worry, the day I will completely destroy Fairy Tail is almost here. How is your master Makarov doing?" she asked with a smile on her face, but her eyes told a completely different story.  
Pure hatred.

"That man had stripped away my business, and now I will ruin Fairy Tail in return. After all, shouldn't we always do some giving and some taking?" she had said creepily, making the whole group feel helpless and powerless as they tried to think of a way to save their friend. Before she could continue her speech, a certain Bluenette rushed in, saying,  
"I'm so sorry I'm late! I was briefly talking to my mother in law, and then I had to continue reading the contract! It's honestly so long, but I think I'm very close to finding the void. I even found out that Haru was being threatened by a person named Esca..." before she realised the situation- Sayla was keeping Juvia hostage with a gun. At first, she couldn't believe her eyes, as Sayla had been her reading partner whenever she went to the library, but now there was no time for reminiscing as she rushed to Gajeel's side, not knowing what to do. While trying to hide behind him, she accidentally slipped, causing her to accidentally bump too close to Sayla, making drop the gun.

Bisca, being the great police woman she was, threw the handcuffs she had to the closest person to Sayla (Alzack), while she ran before taking the gun and holding it to Sayla's head. All Sayla could do was raise her hands in the air as she was handcuffed by Alzack.

* * *

**Ul's house 18:20**

Gray and Ultear had sat on the couch watching some boring television, but they just couldn't focus on the film. Especially Ultear, who was reminiscing on something that she had never really thought of until now, as her wedding day was in just one day.

_Why did I love Gray?... Maybe it was because of how he had made me feel at home, when no one else could. While they had all been busy fighting, he had protected me from the noise. From loneliness. As the days went by, I couldn't help but stare at the boy who had always made me happy, even if I was in pain from the wounds my father had inflicted. I had thought that whoever would marry him would be a lucky girl. He continued on comforting me, even after I had lost my only friend saying,__  
__"What's wrong Ultear? You've been happy these past few days, yet now you seem to be in an even worse state than before..." The worry in his voice was evident, but I couldn't say anything in reply, or I would have burst into tears. I had been told not to ever cry, and I had promised to keep that vow so that my father wouldn't punish me. Gray saw this, and he hugged me all the time, trying to make sure I felt better before he let go and finally had to go home. And I'd wished that he hadn't let go... But then, after feeling for so long that I had just wanted him as a friend, I had started feeling a bit more jealousy as time went on, as I had seen that Gray was popular with other girls. Wanting to know how he felt about me, I had said casually,__  
__"Gray, how do you feel about me?" He had stared at me for a few seconds before saying,_  
_"A best friend!" very enthusiastically. I had smiled at him, but I still wasn't satisfied, so I said,_  
_"If you could marry me, would you?" and he had replied with no hesitation,_  
_"I would be one of the first to marry you Ultear," making me blush at his statement. Excitedly, I had rushed to my father soon after and begged him to allow me and Gray to be together. At first, he hadn't known what to think about me wanting to marry Gray, saying that it was too early and that I could change my mind. But then, a cloud had passed over his face and he had muttered to himself,_  
_"If I can make his child suffer, then he will also suffer," before eagerly accepting my request. I hadn't known how he had done it, but I had hoped that the deal would be finalised soon. This was at the time that Ul had still been alive, but I had been living with my father after soon moving out. That contract had made me ecstatic, but today I wonder whether it is really and truly what I want..._

Ultear woke up from a daze and knew that she had to get answers from the one man who held them- her father. Jellal had strongly advised her not to go to him, as he said that he had only ever been a bad influence to her. But she knew that if he really was bad, then why would he have made the contract for his daughter? Even if he was perceived by others as nothing but bad, Ultear still felt in her heart that he had a chance to redeem himself, and that maybe there was a way to save him. She saw a boat at Magnolia Park and used it, not being very familiar with the controls, so it had taken a while to start it up, and even longer to make it move for longer than a second. When she had arrived, she had stared at the cabinet, wondering how such a man like Haru could live in such conditions. He was used to grandeur, and now she could see how far he had really fallen.

But she knew that she had also been partly at fault, as she had known all those three years where he had hidden himself, but had told no one, and had not allowed herself contact with him. She had regretted not telling Jellal, as he usually guessed right away when she hid things from him. But luckily for her, he had never tried to pry, as he had always been too busy taking care of Gray. When she had seen her father escape, she had known that wherever he was going, he wouldn't have wanted to keep in contact with her, as it would have endangered him. So she had stayed away, but now she could no longer wait, as the secret wasn't so secret anymore.

_Ultear had seen her father walking out of the house with four suitcases. Wondering what he was doing, she had followed him silently in her car, while he had sped away at the speed of light. When she had finally managed to recover where he was, she had stolen a boat from two lovers, not caring about them one bit. All she wanted to do was follow her father and ask if he was okay, as he had seemed very hurt, and she had felt sorry when she hadn't been able to block all those hateful comments that came out of the mouth of people that she knew. People she did/ had considered friends, all ganging up against her dad. She knew that he had many faults, but that was the reason why he was human- he was supposed to make mistakes. He was supposed to be imperfect, yet she found him perfect in her eyes. She knew that the only thing that could help him was give him secret encouragement, so when she had seen his stop, she had been surprised to see that there was a cabin near the lake side. It was definitely a new addition, as the wood was gleaming and it looked well polished and clean. She made sure her father had entered before she left, making sure to look at the sleeping figure of her father._

Gulping down to give herself courage, she opened the door, only to cover her nose.

There was a strong stench of something that she had smelled a lot more faintly before, and she could smell it from the room after the door. She had entered to see several pieces of furniture, as well as a body on the floor. She gasped when she saw that it was her one and only father, a stab wound on his chest- so precise that he would suffer torture by bleeding out. It seemed like the person who had inflicted the wound had wanted Haru to have a slow painful death, and Ultear couldn't help but squeal in terror at the sight. But Ultear had always been an efficient woman, so she had began carrying on her back his heavy figure all the way to the boat before placing him there gently. She couldn't hear his breathing, but she had told herself that he was fine as she looked regularly at the rise and fall of his chest.

At first, she had planned to take him to the car, but she would have had to walk quite a bit, and he wasn't exactly a thin man. Moreover, if people saw his face, they would instantly report the police on him, not caring that he was wounded, seeing it as 'justice'. The lake was connected to all the major places in Magnolia, including the hospital. As soon as she had arrived by boat, a team of nurses had seen her and bowed respectfully, before seeing who the other passenger was. Their horrified expressions told her right away that they would probably not help her, but she knew that she felt desperate, so she shouted at them,  
"Please! Please save my father!" continuously. As the team of nurses stood still contemplating what to do, when a man pushed them all out of the way.

"Don't you remember the Hippocratic Oath? 'I will respect the privacy of my patients'... and my patient right now is bleeding from a serious injury. Nurses, please hurry up and help me escort this man to the emergency room before it's too late!" he said with a powerful, commanding voice, making the nurses move right away while saying,  
"Yes Doctor Rouge!" in unison. Ultear followed them until she wasn't allowed access, praying for her father to survive.

* * *

**Police Car 15:30**

Bisca drove her car while talking to a police officer on the telephone, telling him to expect a woman who had tried to do attempted murder right in front of her eyes. When she had finished her phone call, she had turned around only to see that Sayla wasn't there anymore. She had disappeared! Bisca cursed at herself, telling herself that she had almost been able to restore justice. But instead of panicking about losing a criminal, she then went on to call all police in the vicinity and shout,  
"This is code red. I repeat, this is code red. We have a suspicious person on the loose. Her name is Sayla, and she has long black hair, as well as a short kimono, but she may choose to change her clothes. Keep your guards up and try to find her. She is a young looking criminal mastermind who will not be hesitant in killing, so be careful." When she was done, she parked her police car, rubbing her temple with her to fingers to try and think of how Sayla could have escaped. Bisca checked her pockets to see that her handcuff keys were gone. She realised that Sayla had 'accidentally' bumped into her before, making both girls almost topple over on the floor. After that, she had probably removed her handcuffs while Bisca had been busy talking to the police officer.

Bisca just hoped that that wasn't the only time in which they had been close to capturing her...

\\(*^-^*)/

When the operation had finished, Ultear had looked at the face of the doctor who they had named Rouge. She tried to see whether his face was positive or negative, but he gave her no vibes. He just said,  
"Please enter my office, so we can chat about your father," before walking away, not even waiting for her to respond. When they were inside, she noticed that his room was warm and friendly, with nice pillows on the couches and even a teddy bear on the desk.

"Ultear... Your father has miraculously recovered from the operation," she had said, making her rejoice inside, "but he will probably be in a wheel chair for life. It was lucky that he hadn't died from losing all function in the brain, because now almost half of it is gone, and he won't be able to do simple actions properly anymore... His mind is in a very weak, vulnerable state right now and I know about the scandal three years ago... He will not be able to defend himself, so you will have to be his protector, and dedicate practically all your time to him." Ultear had nodded along, getting every single piece of information she had been given. But one thing that made her the most happy was knowing that her father hadn't died, but he had survived, and he could go to her wedding.

A Blond figure suddenly barged into the room and Ultear realised that it was Sting, a manager at Jellal's company that worked with several of the artists there, as he was very competent. Sting went up to Rouge as he was mid-sentence, and suddenly punched him in the face.  
"Why the hell don't you ever spend time with me? I ask you to get off work because I know you overwork yourself, but you stay here like a hermit at least twenty hours a day before acting dead when you do actually get a break! Stop being such an idiot when you always complain that you're smarter than me!" Meanwhile, Rouge had stayed poker faced all that time, turning to Ultear and saying,  
"I apologise to his behaviour," totally ignoring Sting. Sting went on talking, and Rouge knew that he would get fed up so he said,  
"If you don't need anything Miss Ultear, you can take your leave any time. Please contact me if you ever need anything," he had said kindly before she had quietly closed the door and left. In the distance, she heard angry shouting, finding the two people cute.

When Ultear saw her father, she had hugged him, still not showing any tears. She held him while whispering, "I will protect you no matter what..."

* * *

**Next day- Ultear and Gray's Wedding Day 8:10 AM**

It was finally the day that she had been hoping for, and the day that he had regretted ever since he was younger. They both wore their clothes, him wearing a white suit with black shoes and a white tie, while she wore her beautiful wedding gown, deciding not to put the veil, but wearing a diadem instead that fit her dress. Unlike others, she had chosen a vintage dress with an azure pattern, and the bridesmaids couldn't help but stare at her in wonder.

Gray was already at the aisle, waiting for Ultear. He didn't know how long she would take, but he couldn't help stare at his watch several times, hoping that the time she would go to him would never come. The guests were all loudly talking, excited for the event, not noticing the groom's grim expression. How he wished that he was getting married to Erza instead! He felt his eyes welling up as he remembered that day like it was yesterday.  
He wondered if she would have fallen if he hadn't been there.  
Whether she would have still been alive today.  
Whether she would have been the one walking the aisle.

Jellal stared at Gray with pity, knowing exactly what he was thinking about. But it wasn't just him thinking about it, but everyone who had been involved in the whole ordeal. The tragedy of the event still remained fresh in their minds, and they all didn't know what to do to save Gray from a life of unhappiness.

...

Ultear finally deciding to wear her veil, thinking that it actually did look better on her. She got in the bulletproof limousine in which her dad was already sitting in, as she knew that he could be attacked again viciously like the last time. She closed her eyes, trying to imagine herself being there at her wedding, walking down to finally meet her future husband, who would love her and only her. But Gray's face seemed blurry in her dream, and she tried to remember it again before she opened her eyes after hearing the sound of the wedding bells. Ultear could see the church, and she giggled excitedly in anticipation.

When they had finally arrived, she had pushed the door open, not wanting to waste any more time. Her future was about to be written, and she wasn't about to miss it for the world. Just as she saw all her guests looking at her in the church, she also saw the man that she would marrying. Following the music, she coordinated her steps perfectly, making everyone swoon at her gracefulness. She looked at Gray's face, but her face became crestfallen when she noticed that he wasn't smiling.

She couldn't see the look of a man marrying the love of his life, but marrying a person he didn't want to marry. She stood next to him, facing the priest, both of them now having frowns on their faces. Ultear didn't know whether she could go through the wedding...

\\(*^-^*)/

_YES!Yes!Yes!Yes!Yes! _Levi thought with glee. After reading several hundred pages, she had finally been able to find the void in the contract. Now it was only a matter of actually getting to the wedding. She checked her watch, only to see that the wedding had already started.  
And she knew right away that she would have to battle with time to stop that wedding.

**The big finale is coming up! :D I hope you like it, and many mysteries will be solved for you ;p Stay amazing my adorable royal chibis, and be grateful for your parents/guardians who would always do anything for you, even if you may sometimes shout at them :) [I woke up an hour late and I missed all the buses, so my dad had to drive me to school, even though he had worked for 12 hours... x3] Kansamida appa :D HUGS! \\(*^-^*)/**

**~Roxanne**


	55. Final Chord

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

**A/N: This is the final chapter guys! :D I can't believe it's actually over xD I hope you enjoyed the ride ;) I know I have some explaining to do, so here I go: the reason why I uploaded it all in one go is so that you won't hate me for cliffhangers, so you can just read it all in one go, instead of curse my name for making you angry xD Also, I'm uploading it on the 25th of January as my Birthday is tomorrow, and I wanted to leave a present from me the day before :D (And because 5x5 too xD) Let us read one last chapter together, and thank you so much for everything and reading You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet. I hope the ending is satisfactory to you :)**

**Chapter LV: Final Chord**

Erza walked to the wedding, hoping that her friends would stall for time before she came. She sighed to herself, worried that she really wasn't dressed for the occasion, but she had really had no time to contemplate her choice in clothes. She felt herself bump into someone, and she opened her eyes after the clash to see that it was none other than Sayla. She had heard about what she had done, and hurriedly grabbed her neck.

_"Erza! Is it true that you aren't dead?!" Levi had asked, surprise evident in her voice.  
"Does it seem like I'm dead to you, if I am talking to you on the phone right now?" she had asked the Bluenette with a hoarse voice, after not having talked much before._  
_"Sorry, stupid question. But I knew you couldn't be dead! There was no way that the great Titania was ever going to fall!" she screamed enthusiastically, pleased with herself for calling Erza's parents to ask them to drive her to the wedding, only to find out that Erza was actually still alive, and not dead like they had all thought for three years._  
_"Is there a reason why you called my parents?" she asked, unsure why Levi didn't seem to have any interest in what she had been doing earlier, when she had seemed a lot more in a hurry before._  
_"Ah! Erza! Wherever you are, get out of your bed! Gray is about to get married to Ultear because of some stupid contract, and I had finally found the void in the original contract, but I don't think I'll be able to reach him in time! I've also found out about some secrets that Haru has, so listen carefully..." she had explained the situation thoroughly to Erza as she had gotten a move on, not wanting to lose Gray again._

When she finally understood the situation, Erza had been walking to the wedding when she had met the person who no one had suspected until now.  
The real mastermind behind it all- Esca. Or going by her real name, Sayla.

Sayla breathed with difficulty, spouting, "Let go of me you insolent child!" Erza smiled prettily before saying, "As you wish," and dropping Sayla on the floor. Sayla coughed in pain, before screeching out in pain again, feeling a weight on her hand. It was Erza's foot that was stepping on it, ensuring that she wouldn't run away.  
"Sayla, you really thought I would be naive enough to let you go? After every stupid thing you have done!?" she had growled in anger, making the older female recoil back. Erza now had all the puzzle pieces, and it was up to her to retell the whole story from scratch.

_"You were Haru Milkovich's second wife. You had been a normal business woman who was getting recognised in the business world for being an efficient beauty, and Haru's family had become interested in you. Haru had been in the Milkovich family, but he had acquired a new brother when Aki Fullbuster's parents, Hiroshi Fullbuster and Sandra Fullbuster had both died in a tragic accident. Aki's grandfather, who was a very powerful man, had wanted to allow Aki back into the family, as Sandra Fullbuster had been his most beloved daughter, who had not been allowed to inherit the family company because of her gender. Therefore, he had warmly greeted Aki into the family with open arms, which he had regretted not doing for his grandson's father. So Haru had become the least liked grandson, while Aki had involuntarily become the favourite grandson, making him the most likely to be in throne. This had infuriated Haru, making him actively hate his brother. Not knowing why his new step brother acted like that to him when he had lost his parents and was in a very vulnerable place, he had countered back, also reciprocating Haru's feelings of dislike. So they had gone on hating each other, while Haru had been forced into an arranged marriage with you. But unlike his feelings for you, you absolutely loved him. You adored everything about him, and you would have done anything to keep him yours. However, at that time, your business had failed, and the Fairy Tail campus had been built on the land you had had before, which was now being owned by master Makarov, making you want to have revenge on him. But you didn't know that he loved the woman who was Aki's wife, so you tried to get rid of both of them. After Haru had divorced you, as he had told you that he didn't want you anymore, you wallowed in pain as Aki and his wife had brought a new light into the world- Gray. You had seen how Haru had hated that child with all his heart, knowing that it was the spawn of his enemy. Then, you had blackmailed a pilot into crashing the plane so that no survivors would be left, and you had justified your actions of killing over three hundred people by saying that you had gotten rid of the people who your husband hated. But your husband didn't hate both of them, he had been madly in love with Aki's wife! Knowing what you had done, Haru had instantly rejected you when you had confessed what you had done to him, and he told you that you were an inhumane monster. When you found out that he had gotten remarried to another woman, who had hid yourself again, wanting to make a plan of action involving Natsu's dad. You had used Natsu's dad to kill Jellal's mother, while you personally took care of Ul. But thinking that Natsu's dad knew too much, you killed him.."_

"Of course I had killed him! I knew that leaving witnesses behind would be dangerous to me," she had rebuked in a crazy manner, not like the quiet Sayla they had all known.

_"You deluded yourself all this time, because there had actually been another person there during the time you killed Ul, as well as the time you killed Jellal's mother- Gray and Natsu. They had both mysteriously gotten amnesia after coming into contact with a horrific event, and that was due to the shock. Gray had been there during the time that you had tried to kill Ul, but you had thought that you were safe, since he hadn't seen your face, so you had hid away from society after that murder. Moreover, Natsu's twisted biological father had forced Natsu to go on a murder spree with him, making his son watch all the contract assassinations he had to do before forcing him to try it too, only to cringe away in fear and disgust. Natsu had erased that part of his memory for the sole purpose of not having to relive those horrible days when he would have been considered an accomplice in the eyes of the law. So while you had killed Natsu's father, you hadn't realised that Natsu had also been there, knowing fully well your crimes. Not knowing what more to do, you had thought up a plan of trying to slowly infiltrate back into his life by getting closer to the people he knew. You had even brainwashed Haru for a while, acting like a new person with the name 'Esca' as you told him that it was his fault for allowing Ul to be killed, and that you would be his financial benefactor if he did everything you commanded him. You used everyone you had encountered all for the end goal of getting back together with Haru. Even going so far as to chase two pitiful kids, only to shoot one of them in the eye!... I remembered that I had seen you somewhere, and when I had woken up, I had realised that it was you... At first, I had assumed it was a premeditated attack, but now I realise that you had actually just been trying to get rid of Gray, all for the sake of having no witnesses... So you tried to befriend Juvia, who knew people who could get you to Haru. When you finally met him a few days ago, you had told him that you had forgiven him for betraying your identity, saying that you would go back to him. But he had rejected you once again, and in a fit of anger, you had stabbed him in the chest, hoping that he would have a slow and painful death."_

Sayla fainted from the pain on her hand, not being able to stand it anymore. Erza, not remotely caring what would end up happening to Sayla, had continued making her way to the wedding. She was now only a few steps from passing the threshold of the church, and she saw a black Raven pass her by before she stepped in...

_The doctors had finally named her cancer after years of not knowing. Glaroxima, they had called it. It had sounded like a foreign word when she had heard it, but it had made sense to her right away. She had suffered in the hospital all that time three years ago, before Gray had entered the hospital room, trying to fight the disease with all the strength she had in her. It hadn't been an easy feat, as she had felt herself being in a losing battle the whole time. But when the doctors had explained to her how it had happened and the remedy, she had been eager to try it in the hope of succeeding and being able to live.  
Erza's parents had both had the recessive allele for Glaroxima. It had seemed unlikely that both parents would have had it, but that had meant that Erza had gained a twenty five percent chance of getting it. When she had, the tumour had started duplicating inside her even when she was a foetus- not even a fully developed baby. It had multiplicated so rapidly in such a short amount of time that Erza had felt peculiar symptoms like feeling simultaneously like she was combusting and at the same time freezing to her death. Only a small 0.00001% of the population had the recessive alleles for it, and Erza had been unlucky enough to actually get the recessive genes of her parents. The doctors, after several months of research, had told her that the only way to save her was that she had to die once. This had shocked her parents, and they had vehemently disagreed with the procedure. But Erza had silenced them in her weak state, agreeing to the conditions. Glad that she was listening to them, the doctors had told her that she could choose which way to die, but she had to first be injected with a poison to flow freely in her blood stream, so that her red and white blood cells would stop functioning. They also told her that her heart could not stay still for more than five minutes, or she would actually die._  
_So when Gray had surprised her with a visit, she had known that it was time. She had signalled for the doctors to allow the poison to stream in her blood by remote control and stand there while doing nothing, hoping that they wouldn't interrupt her plan. She had felt immensely weaker, but she made her way to the window. She knew that if she fell from there, she could probably die easily, but it wouldn't break her bones to the point that she would die. After talking to Gray, knowing that if she didn't jump, she would just collapse dead in front of him, and then she would actually be dead, she jumped outside of the window, begging Gray to forgive her._  
_The next few minutes had been agony for both her parents and the doctors, as they had carted away her dead body to a basement room to perform the surgery. They had to be both quick and precise, as they knew that if they actually succeeded, it would be the first time that they would have cured Glaroxima in the world. The surgery to remove the poison in her blood stream had been risky and difficult, but they had managed to do it. When the timer had stopped, they had seen that it had taken her exactly five minutes to be 'dead'. While they stared at her, hoping she would wake up soon, they realised that something had gone wrong. Yes, she was breathing, but she wasn't being responsive to anything._  
_Erza had been in a coma for the three years that everyone had thought her to be 'dead' as it had taken too long to get her back to life. But the doctors had hoped everyday that she would wake up, not wanting to give up on her life. During those three torturous years for the doctors and parents, who had moved her body to the countryside a few miles from a famous church, they had waited for her to wake up. A few times, Erza had woken up, but only for very few seconds, before becoming unconscious again. Moreover, when she did wake up, trying to get her to recognise her parents was impossible, and she had even forgotten the man who she had fallen for, Gray Fullbuster._  
_While in the coma, Erza had also suffered through several delusions;_

_Erza saw a Raven in the distance. Not seeing anything else, she began to go closer to it, wondering what it was doing there all alone. As she got closer, she could see that the bird was getting farther away.  
"Wait!" she had screamed, hoping it would understand her. But all it did was fly away in the distance, and Erza couldn't help but cry, feeling like someone important to her had run away from her and didn't want her anymore...  
"Don't leave me Gray.." When she touched her face, she could feel the wetness, but it was certainly a lot thicker than water- it was blood. _

_Another delusion was that she had gotten closer to the Raven but this time, it chose to chase her, pecking her on her head several times before slowly eating her innards, and finally eating her last remnants- her heart._

_The one that scared her the most was when she had actually tried running away from the Raven, but it had endlessly chased after her, being the bad omen in her life as she could remember how it had dismembered her before._

_And all her delusions had gone on to be even more graphic. But the worst thing about it all was that they had all been so vivid to her..._

* * *

The Secret Melody was not something as hard or complicated as all the males in that family had faced. Simply, the Secret Melody was a melody that the person that they truly loved sang, so that the Great Curse would be nullified. It was no secret that when it came to love, that family was clearly a mess. Both Haru and Aki had not been able to listen to the Secret Melody, as they had both stolen each other's lovers. Furthermore, Gray had also been cursed, being fated to marry Ultear right from the beginning, giving him no possibility to spend more time with Erza and not be cursed to die at a young age. They had all tried to overcomplicate the Melody, when all the Great Curse had pushed them to do was to fight to be with the person they loved. To ignore their dignity, pride, selfishness; anything that made them unworthy of the Secret Melody, and love someone sincerely enough that they would sing it to them.

Even though it had not seemed like a hard task, the Curse had been implemented by a witch, who had called herself Cupida. After having a grudge on one of the ancestors of their family for rejecting their love, they had cursed them and their family to live in misery. But she had also decided that she didn't want him to find true love, but for him to fall for her instead. When she had put a love spell on him, he had soon died, leaving his legacy behind...

* * *

Erza interrupted the wedding, making several people turn at her in consternation. How could someone who had been dead for three years suddenly be right in front of them?! The flabbergasted guests stared on at her in silence while she walked closer and closer to the one who was having the most trouble comprehending what he was seeing. He had seen that woman in front of him several times in his daydreams, but she had also been a teenager, not the fully grown woman with the torn clothes that he could see now.

She was finally face to face with him and held his cheeks, making sure that he was focusing on only her. But even if she had wanted him to, he would have never looked at anything else as his eyes bulged out of their sockets. She leaned in closer until their lips met, and that was when he knew that she was actually there. Alive in the flesh. The warmth of her lips made his flare up with heat as just a minute ago, they had been colder than the Alps. Erza broke off the kiss, smiling happily at him as she said,  
"Gray, I'm back!"

Ultear stared at the ghost in front of her, believing that she was alive, but not comprehending why or how. She saw the Scarlet haired woman turn to her before saying, "Ultear, your mother had written in the contract that if Gray fell in love with someone who wasn't you, then he could choose to marry whoever that was instead, making the wedding null." Ultear had understood all those words, knowing that it was typical of her mother to try and make both parties as happy as possible. She closed her eyes before smiling to herself, finally seeing how happy Gray was, and she shouted clearly,  
"I'm sorry to announce this, but this wedding is over!" She had taken off her veil as well as the diadem, wanting to forget that this day had ever happened. But she wasn't remorseful. Instead, she felt free; happy. She took her father's wheel chair and began going to the exit of the church.

Just as she was about to leave, Cana burst in the church while spotting Erza with Gray and saying, "Finally!" **(Refer to chapter 51) **When Cana had used her tarot cards to predict the future, she had seen many good cards, including the resurrection card. Instantly, she had guessed that the Scarlet haired woman wasn't actually dead, but alive somewhere, and she would interrupt the wedding and save Gray. When she had been kidnapped by Makarov and Aquarius, they had told her to only go to the wedding until it was stopped, so that she wouldn't reveal the truth. That had also been the reason why there had been barely anyone at her funeral, as Erza's parents had been watching over her, and Makarov and Aquarius had been told about Erza not being dead. No one had wanted to feel like crying because they had secretly hoped in their hearts that she was still alive, and now they had the proof to their theories.

Ultear could breathe in the fresh air, waiting for a new tomorrow to come to her, so that she could live her days happily with her father. But her dreams were savagely dashed away from her as she heard a gunshot, and Haru had said his last breath before he had gone limp. Ultear screamed, as if she was feeling physical pain, seeing that the person who had dared do this to her father was none other than Sayla, who had finally succeeded in her mission, before being restrained tightly by the police, allowing no weapons to be on or near her.

Erza had started hugging her friends that she hadn't seen in so long, seeing how grown up they all were when she had heard a gunshot in the distance. She had rushed outside only to see Sayla being taken away and Haru Milkovich in the wheelchair, blood trickling from a gunshot wound. She gasped, her tears welling up as she got closer to the screaming girl. She slowly hugged the Black haired woman saying,  
"I'm so sorry.. It's all my fault... I should have immobilised her when I had the chance.." while Ultear kept on screaming, gratefully accepting the hug.

Erza had sworn to herself on that day that she would protect all those who had been affected by Sayla, including Natsu, as she knew that the police had been preparing a police court case against him for the murder of Jellal's mother. She also swore to herself that Sayla would be served justice no matter the cost.

So Erza worked hard, entering University easily after passing the entrance exam, before doing her bar exam only three months later, and passing it with immediate success.

* * *

**Court- 5 months later 17:35**

Erza was standing outside in the defendant lobby, where Natsu was standing around nervously. She patted his shoulder to reassure him, and he gave her a wide smile. After several hours of rehabilitation, Natsu had gotten back his memories about his biological father.

_"That man... That man was evil... After my adoptive father had left me, I had nowhere to go. No one to be my guardian. So when he had discovered that I was his son, he had allowed me to join him right away. But I didn't know that he would kill people for a living, and I had always been there, cleaning the evidence while crying... He..He told me that I was getting better at it, and that one day, he would also teach me how to kill... I didn't want to kill anyone... A woman was there, and he had stabbed her repeatedly, and she was dead as soon as he had hit her once. But that day, he had also wanted me to learn.. So he had given me the knife, and told me to stab her several times.. I had refused, but his glare had told me that I would end up like her if I didn't hurry up.. *Sob*... I was a coward, so I stabbed her once to spare my life, not even thinking about how I had put my fingerprints on it..._

In fact, the decisive evidence against Natsu was of a dirty, old knife they had found at the crime scene over ten years ago, and only his fingerprints were traced, and after he had accidentally gotten involved in an accident while being a vigilante, he had been forced tp put his fingerprints on the database. Now, Erza had to fix the whole mess. She had already put the puzzle pieces of the jigsaw together long ago, and now it was time to shine to prove that Sayla was guilty, while Natsu was innocent. The peculiar thing about the case was that it had two defendants, so the jury would have a harder time deciding an outcome on whether they were both involved, or if it was just one party. Erza hoped sincerely that they realised that the only one at fault was Sayla.

\\(*^-^*)/

Judge: The court is now in session for the trial of... two defendants? What is the meaning of this?

Said the gruff voice of the never changing Judge, clearly too focused on his periodic dramas to have read the case file.

Skye: Your Honour, today there are two defendants, remember?

Said Prosecutor Skye sassily. Even after three years, she still hadn't changed one bit. But at least now she was dating Trojan, and Erza found them to be an adorable couple. The Judge coughed at her, trying to hide his incompetence before saying,

Judge: Are both parties ready?

Skye: The prosecution is ready to put this court on fire!

Skye screamed, enthusiastic as ever.

Judge: The defence is ready, your Honour,

Erza said meekly before smiling, giving everyone in the courtroom heart attacks at how much more beautiful she was than before. Gray meanwhile seethed silently in the jury seat, not even knowing why he had been allowed. Technically, he knew both the people on the defendant stand and had been personally involved with them, but they had still forced him to go. _Guess that's her real power, _he had thought to himself.

Judge: Then I guess the two defendants may enter the courtroom.

Natsu and Sayla had come from two different exits, and while Natsu tried to smile nervously, Sayla had a cold, blank stare, like a snake that was about to devour its prey. They both stood on two different podiums, as Erza had requested them being viewed as two separate people, not part of the same group.

Judge: So, beautiful witness, may I know your name?

He had asked in that creepy way of his, making Skye and Erza cringe at him. Even after knowing him for so long, they still couldn't get used to him.

Sayla:...

Instead of speaking, Sayla had chosen to stay silent, reminding Erza of when Sayla had pretended to be mute.

Judge: Miss?..

Skye: She knows she's been caught red handed, so there is really no need to know. She is unemployed and her name is Sayla. She was seen shooting Haru Milkovich dead, and she had also stabbed him previously.

Judge: Haru Milkovich! That man had used to be in my school... He was so young, and yet he had to go... Those two brothers were too pitiful..

He had continued blathering, making the defence flare up before she threw her high heel at him, making Skye laugh in approval.

Judge: Miss Scarlet, what was that for!?

He had screamed, clearly angered.

Erza: We do not have time to waste on meaningless memories. Someone in this room is clearly guilty, and the defence and the prosecution would like to do their job, your Honour

She had reprimanded in her authoritative voice, making even the Judge gulp in fear. He nodded before saying,

Judge: Then we shall continue. Young man, what is your name?

Natsu: My name is Natsu, and I'm currently training in school to be a chef!

He had said enthusiastically, bringing the people in the court room smiles. The Judge nodded, showing the prosecution that she could speak.

Skye: This murder was done over ten years ago, but it is still very important, as it will determine several other events.

Erza continued from there as if on cue, being perfectly in sync with the prosecution.

Erza: On that night, an unfortunate boy had been pushed into a life of crime by his father, and he had done nothing to the poor woman who had been killed. But the person who had done something was none other than the person who had ordered it- the defendant over there, Sayla.

Skye: She had contacted him to kill the mother of a young child, while she went on to try and kill other people. Cold and merciless, she had taken the lives of several people all for the sake of becoming Haru Milkovich's lover.

Erza: But it was never going to happen, as he did not have feelings for her, but for the person who she had murdered!

Judge: AHH!

Screamed the Judge in realisation at something, making Erza pissed off at him, as she was just about to reveal the good bit.

Judge: Miss, aren't you Haru's first wife? I had always seen you on entrepreneurial adverts, and then suddenly you were gone!

Sayla gave him a cold stare before keeping her silence, not wanting to let her voice betray her.

Erza: Judge... If you dare interrupt me again, your spine won't be the only thing that I break..

She said coldly, making him shut up right away.

Erza: As I was saying, he had feelings for the woman she had murdered! Knowing after several years of stalking that he would never love her, she finally resorted to one last act..

Erza and Skye: Murdering her lover, Haru Milkovich!

The crowd went wild at the thrilling story, making the Judge pound his mallet several times.

Judge: Order! Order! I demand order!

But he knew that he wasn't going to get order as they continued chattering on excitedly, so he had quietly said to the jury,

Judge: Please deliberate, and tell us your final decision.

It had been a simple case, Sayla looking evidently guilty as she was sentenced to life in prison with no parole. Natsu however, got the 'NOT GUILTY' and confetti, making Lucy hug him tightly for winning the case.

* * *

**Fairy Tail Agency - 5 Days later**

Erza stood outside the Fairy Tail agency, not really thinking that she would have ever done this again, but she knew that she could never really quit. With her was the one who she had been destined to, holding her hand to reassure her. But she was also holding his hand to reassure him. After a lot of deliberation, they had finally decided to do it together.

_"Gray... I think I want to become a singer again," she had said while pinching his cheeks. He rolled his eyes before saying,  
"Not again! Don't you remember what happened the last time?" he had asked whit a grim smile on his face._  
_"You say that, but what if I said that we could debut together?" At this, he had raised himself up a bit more, the idea suddenly sounding much more enticing._  
_"If I say yes... Which I'm not saying yet... Can we be introduced as a couple?" he asked shyly, making her want to cuddle him even more. She kissed him before nodding vigorously._

They were greeted by Sting, who was shouting angrily at the phone (probably at Rouge). As soon as he saw Erza though, he stopped talking, and then went on to rush over to her and envelop her in a hug. Gray glared at him before gently removing the arms that were wrapped around his girlfriend. Sting got the message and whispered,  
"Don't worry, I've moved on from Erza," before winking at him. Gray found it hard to believe, but he gave him the benefit of the doubt. They went into his office, and they had asked him if they could both become singers. Sting had been ecstatic and had told them to sign the contracts right away, not before Erza had spent her time thoroughly reading it. When she had finished, they had both signed it, knowing that Jellal had turned it into a much fairer company.

Their fame had been expected, but the amount of people who had instantly become their fans had surprised them. Soon, they were the world's most powerful couple, with the world's biggest fan base.

But they also had competition from the second most popular fan base- Nalu. After the court case, Natsu had been scouted by Fairy Tail agency to have his own cooking show, and he had named it, 'Dragon Slayer Natsu'. Every day, he would try to cook really hot and exotic foods and eat them, and the fans would go crazy when they saw how he reacted compared to how the others who tried his food; he would usually feel pumped, while the victims would have to suffer in pain. A regular victim of his was his girlfriend, the famous author- Lucy Heartfilia.

A few years had passed, Gray and Erza had been invited on Natsu's show to be in the audience, but he never usually asked them until something important was happening. So as they sat in their seats, watching the lovey dovey couple, they suddenly saw Natsu cooking a red/orange heart shaped cake. He had cut out a specific, tiny portion of the cake before giving it to her to eat. When she ate it (while crying because of how hot it was) she felt something hard in her mouth. She spat it out, only to see it was a ring. Her eyes increased in size, and Natsu took out the real ring before saying,

"Lucy Heartfilia; you have stolen my heart. But now, I want to steal your surname and change it to mine, so that we can both be thieves in our relationship," he had said with a toothy grin. The audience awwed as Erza whispered to Gray,  
"Did he make that cheesy line himself?" Gray had smiled knowingly before saying,  
"I may have had a part in it," while sticking out his tongue, making Erza punch him lightly on the arm.  
"I really hope you won't be as cheesy as him when you do it," she had said jokingly.  
"Oh? How did you know I was going to do it soon?" he had asked with actual surprise on his face, making Erza realise with shock that maybe he had planned on proposing to her, as her birthday was coming in a couple of days. Dazed, they had both gone to congratulate the engaged couple, not looking or touching at each other, evident heat on their faces.

So they had spent their days like that, avoiding each other and wondering when Gray would propose. But Erza didn't want to be the typical bride. She had always said to herself that if she wanted to get married to someone, she would propose first, so that it would show that he didn't have to have all the pressure. Remembering her plan from long ago, she put it into action, preparing the perfect ring. When she had been at the engagement ring shop, the receptionist had said,  
"Oh... Poor you.. Your future husband won't even buy you a ring," with a pitiful look. She had wanted to correct her by telling her that she was actually going to propose to him, but realised that it would be too long of an explanation.

So then Erza had used the sure fire method of talking to Gray.

_Titania: Hi, are you there Gray?_

_Iceboy: Scarlet! How long has it been since we've used this website xD?!_

_Titania: I think at least three years :D_

_Iceboy: Wow... Anyways, wuu2?_

_Titania: Look at the billboards, and then you'll find out ;)_

_Iceboy: Ohhh! Mysterious :p_

_Titania: Just hurry up! I'm tired of standing up x(_

_Iceboy: Wow.. Geez.. You never change smh -.-_

_Titania: But you wouldn't love me if I changed ;)_

_Iceboy: True... Okay, let me do what you asked now Scarlet. See ya soon ;)_

Gray went outside, removing his glasses to see the massive billboard. People on the street recognised him, but they seemed to be staying away for once, as if they were anticipating something. The billboard showed Erza, and then she suddenly started moving, pointing at a direction saying,  
"Gray, go there! I have a special surprise for you," before winking at him. Curious, he had followed the billboards which had pointed him to a deserted street after a long walk. He felt himself gasping a bit, not thinking that he had to walk this much just to talk to Erza. He saw her standing there with her winter clothes, the white snow cascading down softly.

He walked up to her, only to see her bending down on one knee and holding out a ring to him. Gray was surprised, as he had wanted to propose to her first.  
"Gray... I know that sometimes, I may get angry with you and-"  
"Sometimes? Are you actually fucking serious?" he had asked while chuckling.  
"Shut up Gray! You are getting in the way of my beautiful speech!" He decided to quiet down, wanting to know her sincere feelings to him. "When you broke up with me, I had hated you, and then I had wanted you back so desperately. When I was diagnosed with Glaroxima, I finally thought that there was a way to survive it. I'm sorry for scaring you when I jumped, but I had done it so I could quickly come back to you... Even though your family had suffered through the Great Curse, I want you to know that you will always and forever be by my side and you will not die young, as this is my melody to you..."

"I love you, I love you,  
Even when I can't feel your embrace,  
You still make my heart race,  
Please stay with me forever,  
and ever  
Through the good and the bad,  
the happy and the sad,  
Please promise me one thing too..  
Please love me, love me like you do..."

Erza finished, and Gray knew that the family curse was lifted. But more than anything else, he was finally able to marry the person he loved. The person who always sang so beautifully to him, and made him feel happy.  
"Will you marry me?" she had exhaled, her breath mystifying. Gray had coolly taken the ring before acting like he was reconsidering, making her almost yell at him, when he finally placed it on his fourth finger on his left hand. She stood up to admire the ring on his finger, glad to see that it was the perfect size.

"I can't believe you couldn't even wait a fucking second!" he had said as he had dropped on one knee as well, giving Erza the ring that she deserved. It had a clear diamond, and it was a rose coloured gold which had shocked her.  
"I would say touching stuff, but you've pretty much said everything so I'll shout this out to the whole world- I LOVE ERZA SCARLET, WHO IS THE MOST VIOLENT WIFE IN THE WORLD!" She giggled at him before he placed the ring on her left hand on the fourth finger, and he kissed her sweetly on the lips...

\\(*^-^*)/

Gray was at the altar with Erza, her wearing a beautiful wedding dress, like the one he had given her on her birthday, and yet it was all white. Her veil covered her ethereal face, and he begged the priest to hurry up. When he had finished, he removed Erza' s veil, whispering in her ear,  
"To eternity together, my Titania." Gray had said the exact same thing as her birthday- and she couldn't help blushing like the colour of her hair.

**This fanfiction is now complete :D Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you had an ejoyable journey. Good luck with life, and see you (hopefully soon x3) with another fanfiction ;) For my first completed fanfiction, did you like it? :D I love you all my royal adorable chibis! ~(*^-^*)~ XXXXX INFINITE HUGS!**

**~Roxanne**


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